Senators Joel Villanueva and Bong Revilla both recognize the significant role military reservists play in times of calamities and in stopping terrorism.
Villanueva and Revilla have filed Senate Bill Numbers 1147 and 1203, respectively, to strengthen the employment rights of military reservists.
The proposal was filed and was passed on third reading at the Senate during the previous Congress. The final copy of the measure was sent to the House of Representatives requesting for its concurrence but it had failed to act on it.
“Citizen soldiers or reservists play an integral role in providing assistance during natural disasters.”
“Citizen soldiers or reservists play an integral role in defending the Philippines in times of war, armed conflicts and similar occurrences, and in providing assistance during natural disasters, among others,” Villanueva explained.
The veteran legislator cited the five-month long Battle of Marawi in Lanao del Sur that started on May 23, 2017 between troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and terrorists identified with the Islamic State (IS) that included members of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terror groups.
During those months, the AFP had mobilized two battalions of reservists either to be in the frontlines or provide assistance to soldiers and civilians caught in the crossfire.
In 2013, hundreds of military reservists were also deployed for search and rescue operations in provinces – mostly in Leyte – that were hit by Typhoon Yolanda.
These citizen soldiers risk their lives to save lives, said Villanueva, and many of them have decent jobs in private firms to return to after their tour of military duty.
“Unfortunately, reservists often risk losing their civilian careers when they render military service,” the seasoned lawmaker said, citing a Harvard Business Review study on the inclination of U.S. companies to hire active military reservists.
The 2017 study found out that American employers find it challenging to hire or invest in military reservists due to the possibility that they might be called regularly, and will, thus, take long leaves from work to render military service.
In the Philippines, there is very little protection for reservists in terms of employment rights, such as payment of compensation and wages while in military service, prohibition against discrimination, rights of reservists on returning to work, as well as the payment of social security-related contributions while on military service, the veteran legislator said.
“Our reservists should be entitled to their original position without loss of seniority rights or reduction of pay. Likewise, their military service should not be considered a break in the employment for retirement purposes,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
“The risk for reservists to lose their civilian careers when they render military service is unforgiving.”
In filing his Senate Bill 1203, Revilla said: “The risk for reservists to lose their civilian careers when they render military service for our State, despite fighting for the country, is unforgiving. The (Marawi) siege created a problem (in) making it difficult for the reservists to reintegrate back to their old jobs, since there is no current law covering that.”
The twin measures, to be called the “Reservist Employment Rights Act,” seek to strengthen the employment rights of members of the Reserve Force of the AFP to give recognition to their role in mission areas and in national security.
“It aims to ensure the security of tenure of reservists and entitle them to their original position or substantially equivalent position, without loss of seniority rights and diminution of pay. It also intends to institute programs that will protect current and prospective reservists from discrimination in terms of job hiring, reinstatement, promotion, or any benefit of employment on the basis of rendering military service for our country,” the veteran legislator added.
Both measures are now pending at the Senate Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development Committee.