A LABOR-MANAGEMENT council composed of various schools in Manila has written to Mayor Honey Lacuna to protest City Ordinance 8793, the controversial mandate requiring sanitary permits and health certificates from all establishments and workers.
In the letter of protest dated Aug. 14, representatives of Education Industry Tripartite Council-NCR (EITC-NCR) member-schools pointed to the Manila directive’s inconsistencies with national laws.
“EITC-NCR believes that the requirement of exclusive conduct by the (public health laboratory) of the Manila Health Department of the required laboratory tests not only suffers from legal infirmity, but, what is more, the requirement is downright restrictive, unreasonable, and oppressive,” the letter read.
The council said requiring applicants for health certificates to have their tests done at Manila’s public health laboratory contradicts Presidential Decree 586, or the Code of Sanitation of the Philippines.
The presidential decree does not limit laboratory tests to public health laboratories owned by the city government, it said.
“Undeniably, the City of Manila acted in excess of the powers granted to it as an LGU (local government unit) when it not only required the kinds of tests to be taken, but even restricts the tests to be exclusively conducted in the (public health laboratory) of the Manila Health Department only,” the council said.
The council also noted that all of its member-schools have been conducting random drug testing in compliance with the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
“[A]n ordinance cannot provide additional requirements on top of the requirements already required under a national law as it shall impede the exercise of rights granted to it in a general law and/or make a general law subordinate to a local ordinance,” it said.
The schools’ teaching and non-teaching staff have also been undergoing comprehensive medical examinations annually, it argued.
A check of employee benefits by the Varsitarian however found that annual physical examinations are not conducted on faculty members, although they are entitled to medical benefits of up to P100,000 annually based on a collective bargaining agreement.
The formal letter of protest was signed by representatives, either of the school administration or labor unions, from the following schools:
Adamson University, De La Salle University, Far Eastern University, UST, San Beda University, Lyceum of the Philippines, Centro Escolar University, Philippine Women’s University, Philippine Christian University, Metropolitan Medical Center College of Arts Science and Technology, Paco Catholic School, Emilio Aguinaldo College Management, and Perpetual Help College Manila.
Samahang Manggagawa ng UST president Dan Patricio and UST Faculty Union president Emerito Gonzales were among the signatories.
In an Aug. 5 memorandum, the Manila Health Department, headed by the mayor’s husband, Dr. Arnold Pangan, doubled down on its implementation of Manila Ordinance 8793 by ordering teachers in all schools in the city to secure health certificates.
It had been criticized earlier for unfairly singling out UST.
