50 Years Na! Senators Push Major Labor Code Overhaul for AI, Gig Workers, and WFH Setups
It's been half a century since the Philippine Labor Code was written — and senators are finally saying it's time for a serious upgrade. On Tuesday, Sens. Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan pushed for a comprehensive revision of the labor law to address modern realities like artificial intelligence, online jobs, the gig economy, and even wartime disruptions.
The Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, led by Pangilinan, tackled the proposed Revised Labor Code alongside the Revised Government Auditing Act. Pangilinan said the updated code "makes workers' rights easier to understand, easier to claim, and easier to enforce" — a much-needed change for millions of Filipino workers navigating today's complex employment landscape.
Hontiveros zeroed in on the gaps left by decades of change — contractual work, subcontracting, freelancing, platform-based jobs, and the entire gig economy have all emerged since the original code was enacted. She stressed that the revised law should "integrate international labor standards and plug policy gaps in worker protections," including those already addressed by court rulings and executive orders.
The senator also pointed to current crises — war, pandemics, rising oil prices, and the growing influence of AI — as urgent reasons to act. She called for synchronizing the Labor Code with recently enacted laws like the Expanded Maternity Leave Law, the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Law, and the Anti-POGO Act. "The snail-like resolution of thousands of labor cases, which helps perpetuate labor injustices, must end," Hontiveros declared.
Pangilinan, meanwhile, also pushed for modernizing the Audit Code to give the Commission on Audit power to monitor digital transactions, public-private partnerships, and off-budget spending. Without these updates, he warned, workers face gaps in protections and the government risks losing accountability over public funds. (Source: The Manila Times)
