A congressman from the Bicol Region on Saturday expressed optimism that the “Eddie Garcia” bill, which mandates a safe work environment for show business industry workers, including actors, will soon be enacted.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the measure also provides for proper compensation and other benefits for their unconventional work schedules.
Villafuerte voiced high hopes for the congressional passage soon of the proposed “Eddie Garcia Act,” following the recent Senate approval on the third reading of its version of this measure.
He was referring to Senate Bill 2505 which provides labor protection to all workers in this sector, including independent contractors who are hired to do production work and other services like distribution and exhibition of content.
The House of Representatives passed in February 2023 House Bill 1270 principally authored by Villafuerte aims for full protection for the industry’s workers and independent contractors during all of their work hours, including on-location assignments.
HB 1270 is the consolidated version of Villafuerte’s bill along with six other similar measures. SB 2505 was passed on third reading on Feb. 19.
Villafuerte said: “The proposed protection covers the industry workers’ out-of-town shoots or lock-in production or both, requiring them to stay within sets or location sites for days or even months.”
The measure was named after the late multi-awarded actor-director Eduardo Garcia (screen name: Eddie Garcia), who died at a Makati City hospital in June 2019, following an accident that was traced to an alleged negligence on safety protocols at the site where a new TV series featuring him was being shot on location in Manila’s Tondo district.
The House committee on labor and employment chaired by Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles last year endorsed the House approval of the consolidated bill.
Villafuerte had authored HB 1270 with his fellow Camarines Sur Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata along with the Bicol Saro party-list nominee, in the hope of providing full workplace protection to all industry workers and prevent a repetition of Garcia’s death resulting from an accidental fall during a location shooting five years ago.
