PH Senate panel approves measures to honor, protect line workers

The Senate Energy Committee has approved measures seeking to give line workers greater protection and formally recognize their contribution to maintaining the country’s power supply.

The panel, chaired by Sen. Erwin Tulfo, approved on Sept. 10 bills proposing the designation of every first Monday of August as “National Line Workers Appreciation Day.”

The committee also approved separate measures mandating insurance coverage and other benefits for line workers employed by private distribution utilities, electric cooperatives, and transmission or grid operators.

Tulfo said the proposed insurance requirement would establish minimum coverage for life, accidents, and disability, citing the dangers regularly faced by workers tasked with installing, repairing, and maintaining power lines.

“When we are to recognize their service, we must also recognize the dangers that come with their work. These dangers are very real. These are not abstract occupational risks. These are risks that can cost a worker’s life and leave a family without a loved one and a source of livelihood,” said the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

He said line workers are often deployed during natural disasters, including typhoons, floods, and earthquakes, to restore electricity despite hazardous conditions.

“Behind every light that stays on are line workers who brave difficult and often dangerous conditions to keep electricity flowing. The risks our linemen face are no joke,” Tulfo said.

“When there is a typhoon, flood, earthquake, or any other disaster, they are the ones sent out to climb poles, repair power lines, and work for hours, even in the middle of the night, just to restore electricity service,” he emphasized.

Tulfo, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, and Sen. Francis Escudero separately filed the Senate measures seeking to establish the annual appreciation day. A counterpart measure in the House of Representatives, backed by 25 lawmakers, has already been approved on third reading.

The Senate Energy Committee likewise approved Senate Bill Nos. 498, 923, and 2448 and House Bill No. 7239, which cover mandatory insurance and other benefits for line workers.

The committee is expected to prepare its report on the measures next week before they are sponsored at the Senate plenary. -Paraluman News