RAPID Projects - CSO Case Studies

Kasambahay (domestic worker) program: working together towards a Magna Carta for Filipino domestic workers
Richard G. Valenzuela

Introduction
Only a decade ago was the issue of domestic workers made public by the Visayan Forum Foundation's (VF) Kasambahay (domestic worker) Program, which pioneered the work on child domestic labour and domestic workers as a sector in the Philippines. In September 2004, with the program's continuous engagement with local government units, the local government of Quezon City, the largest of Metro Manila's cities (in population and land area), committed to facilitate the passing of a kasambahay ordinance. And, in the first ever Domestic Workers Summit in September 2005, Filipino domestic workers were recognised as the 'invisible engine' of the Philippine economy (maximising private households' productivity by freeing additional manpower into the labour market at a time when women have increasingly joined the workforce).

Type and extent of policy change
At the local level, the Quezon City government has trail-blazed the ordinance on mandatory registration of domestic workers under which they could avail of basic social services such as education, formal training, vocational training, counselling, Philippine Health insurance coverage, and arts and recreational activities. At the national level, the Philippines has enacted the Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, the Anti-Child Labor Law (R.A. 9231), and the Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004.

Some thoughts on the explanation of the policy change
The Political Context
Nationally, the political atmosphere has not given a genuine attention to the issue of domestic workers. Fortunately, the Quezon City local government has heeded the call for more appropriate protection mechanisms for its domestic workers. Through a City Councillor's sponsorship, the landmark ordinance for the kasambahay registration was passed in December 2004. The Department of Labor and Employment, through the Institute for Labor Studies has since facilitated other local government units in drafting local ordinances similar to that of the Quezon City.

Equally important is the active involvement of domestic workers themselves. The VF has organised the 'Samahan at Ugnayan ng mga Manggagawang Pantahanan sa Pilipinas' (SUMAPI) or the Association and Linkage of Domestic Workers in the Philippines as the voice of the sector and the living evidence of the need for policy uptake.

The ways the NGO movement tried to affect policy change
The programme works along three components. It provides specialised crises services to domestic workers, builds the capacities of stakeholders and works in improving the working conditions of the workers through lobbying for various legal instruments at the local and national levels, using research based evidence about the current condition of child domestic workers.

The nature of research-based evidence
VF has been publishing a number of studies that document its experiences with domestic workers, especially children; publishing child workers' personal and socio-economic profiles. A recent piece of comprehensive research was the Analysis of the Situation of Filipino Domestic Workers by the ILO in 2004. The research involved a literature review of studies and surveys by both government and NGOs in the Philippines; key informant interviews; and focus group discussions and interviews with current and former domestic workers. Consistent with ILO's multi-sectoral approach, information from government agencies, NGOs, workers associations, private sector entities, and other international donors was used.

The mechanisms used to get evidence into the policy process
With VF acting as a catalyst for change, like-minded stakeholders in the government and private sector have harmoniously engaged with a number of policy-makers in the House of Representatives and the Senate to create a supportive policy environment, as demonstrated by the enactment of pertinent national laws.

VF also launched a nationwide campaign to gather a million signatures in support for the passage of Senate Bill 1772 or the Batas Kasambahay Act of 2004 during the Araw ng Kasambahay (Domestic Workers Day) Celebration in April 2005. A series of stakeholders' consultation workshops and the first National Domestic Workers Summit in September 2005 became the avenues for information gathering and dissemination. Also, with the utilisation of tri-media, advocates were able to easily expand and strengthen their existing coalition and build new policy networks.

External influences
Maximising the potential of the supportive policy climate, international donor organisations such as the ILO and international NGOs like Anti-slavery International are continuously initiating research and advocacy activities in consonance with the programme.

Conclusions and lessons learned
The following lessons learned are guideposts toward this:

Gathering of research-based evidence to inform policy formulation and programme development in protecting domestic workers. Comprehensive studies on domestic workers' conditions of work should be documented and disseminated in a way comprehensible to policy-makers in time for policy decisions.
Exploration and utilisation of the different kinds and levels of policy windows. Advocates and domestic workers alike need to influence policy-making at various levels. such as local legislation through municipal or city ordinances that could help in the passage of national legislation on domestic work.
Strengthening of coalitions and media links. Domestic workers, advocates, service providers in the government and private sector as well as policy-makers have to expand their reach to other stakeholders, especially those in the media who can provide an effective medium in informing the public of their cause and generating positive responses to protect the plight of Filipino domestic workers.

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