The House Committee on Labor and Employment  chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles has approved a measure seeking to ensure that the claims of workers are given first priority in case their employers file for bankruptcy.

Nograles, who is also the vice president for internal affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP), said this measure will help ensure that workers collect their wages and other monetary claims even without a formal declaration of insolvency by employers.

House Bill 5308, which substituted House Bill 2547 authored by TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, amends Article 10 of Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.

"It requires that in the event of bankruptcy of the employer, the workers should be given the first preference as regards their wages and other monetary claims," the committee report on HB 5308 stated.

The measure likewise provides that such unpaid wages and other monetary claims shall be paid in full even without the formal declaration of bankruptcy or insolvency, the committee added.

The Constitution affirms "labor as primary social and economic force" and mandates the State to "protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.”

"Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, declares as a State policy to afford protection to labor. One such protection to labor is to satisfy their claims against the employers' business," the committee report noted.