Inclusion of Hepa B workers in anti-discrimination snagged

A Davao city councilor is pushing for the amendment of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance of the city to include patients suffering from Hepatitis B, who should not be discriminated upon in the work place.

Majority floor leader Councilor Melchor Quitain Jr. said during the Pulong Pulong ni Pulong that they are scheduled to have a committee hearing with the Department of Labor and Employment and the Davao City Legal Office to discuss whether this move is feasible.

He cited that under the Labor Code of the Philippines, an employee's disease can be a ground for the termination of his employment under Art 284. If the employee suffers from a disease and his continued employment is prohibited by law or prejudicial to his health or to the health of his coemployees, the employer shall not terminate his employment unless there is a certification by competent public health au-

thority that the disease is of such nature of at such a stage that it cannot be cured within a period of six months even with proper medical treatment.

The law also states that should the disease be curable within six months, the employee should be asked to take a leave of absence instead of terminating his employment and that the employee is subject to reinstatement after his recovery from disease.

World Health Organization said that Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It is a major global health problem. It can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Because of the conflict, Quitain said that they will iron it out whether it can be included in the ordinance or not. They will seek advice from the labor experts as well. This developed after receiving complaints from personalities who have Hepa B who were not accepted to work due to their current illness.

"Babalik to sa committee level sa July 6 may committee hearing kami because nasa labor code na disease or sickness can be a ground to dismiss an employee kung merong sakit. Pwede siyang tanggalin ng employer pero we would like to include Hepatitis B nga kung pwd hindi i-include ang Hepatitis B it doesn't mean nga infected ka ana nga disease hindi kana makaka-trabaho," he said.

In the current ordinance, it states that prohibits and penalizes discrimination based on sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, race, color, descent, national or ethnic origin and religious affiliation or beliefs.

"We have the anti-discrimination ordinance is already been is supposed to be submitted for second reading but we decided to postpone it because we're thinking of including Hepatitis B infected people or patients to be included on the list of those who should not be discriminated," he added.

Apparently, health status of an individual is not included in the ordinance thus, they wanted to amend it to give equal privilege for those Hepa B patients.

"We are still trying to discuss if this is viable with the Department of Labor and Employment because of the labor code where disease can be a ground for termination so how can we reconcile on that. People who are suffering Hepatitis B should not be dismissed or refused for employment in the workplace," he said.JCR