The committee on labor and employment chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles has given the go signal to a proposed law that would lower the retirement age of surface mine workers from 60 to 50 to reduce their exposure to risks and various job-related hazards.
House Bill 4271, which provides for this early retirement age, was approved by the Nograles panel on the eve of Labor Day as a tribute to the country’s valiant and hardworking mine workers.
Nograles, who represents Davao City’s 3rd district, is also the National Unity Party’s vice president for internal affairs.
HB 4271, which is a substituted measure of the bill filed by Rep. Ronald Cosalan of Benguet, covers mill plant workers and those who work in support services, such as mechanical, electrical and tailings pond personnel.
Underground mine workers already enjoy the benefit of retiring early at 50 as provided under Republic Act 8558, which amended Section 287 of Presidential Decree 442, the country’s Labor Code.
Nograles said surface mine workers should likewise be given the same benefit as they are also at risk of being exposed to toxic substances and other health hazards.
HB 4271, authored by Cosalan and Nograles, amends Article 287 of the Labor Code by declaring that "an underground or surface mining employee upon reaching the age of 50 years or more, but not beyond 60 years which is hereby declared the compulsory retirement age for both underground and surface mine workers, who has served at least five years as underground or surface mine worker, may retire and shall be entitled to all the retirement benefits provided for in Art. 287."
Nograles said the bill is necessary not only to ensure the early retirement of surface mine workers, but also to compel government agencies affected by the measure, in particular the Social Security System (SSS), to follow the law.
He recalled that during the deliberations on the measure, Cosalan pointed out that the SSS refused to comply with the existing law—RA8558—which lowers the retirement age of underground mine workers, on the ground that it did not specifically amend RA 1161 otherwise known as the Social Security Law.
Moreover, Nograles noted that the SSS requested for time to fully implement RA 8558 because an immediate age reduction would be too drastic given the agency’s financial status.
The SSS, instead, asked for a partial compliance by pegging the retirement age of mine workers at 55, Nograles said.
Thus, HB 4271 explicitly states that Section 12-B of RA 1161 or the Social Security Law, as amended, “shall hereby be amended and modified accordingly to entitle underground or surface mining employees to the benefits provided therein upon reaching the retirement age of 50 years old. ”