In March 2016, two well-known directors from media network ABS-CBN suddenly passed away. Wenn Deramas directed the top-grossing Filipino films that starred comedian Vice Ganda while director Francis Xavier Pasion was part of top-rating telenovela “On The Wings of Love” starring popular tandem James Reid and Nadine Lustre. Both directors died after suffering cardiac arrest. Grief of co-workers and colleagues in the media industry blamed extended working hours for the untimely deaths.
In April, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was urged to look into work-hour limits for those working in the media.
On April 9, the Film Academy of the Philippines submitted a draft directive to DOLE recommending working hours to be reduced to eight hours in a 24-hour period including “waiting time.”
DOLE came out with Labor Advisory No. 4 on April 27, recommending eight hours as regular hours of work and up to 12 hours if needed to work beyond the regular hours (including “waiting time”) in any 24-hour period for all workers and talents in the movie and television industry. The labor advisory also pushed for provisions for transportation, lodging, minimum benefits and social welfare benefits for all workers and talents.
However, the labor advisory is not a law, only a clarification. Atty. Noel Neri of Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center (PLACE) said that following the labor advisory is not mandatory for companies. The labor advisory does not contain a penal clause.
Why the extended working hours in media
“Sa show ko ngayon, one shooting day per episode. So kung may 30 sequences ka, kailangan mo iyon matapos sa isang araw. Mahirap i-mount ang isang sequence, kasi iilawan, i-block ang artista, magbibihis ng damit, mag memake-up [In the current show I am directing, one shooting day is alloted per epsisode. So if you have 30 sequences, you need to shoot it all in a day. Each sequence is hard to mount as we would have to light the scene, block actors, and actors change wardrobe and have their makeup done.],” shared Michael Cardoz, director for GMA network programs Wagas and Karelasyon.
The required outputs every shooting day cause working hours to be extended beyond eight hours.
“Sa indie na pelikula, one hour per sequence ang average. Pero minsan sa TV, kailangan tirahin ng halos 30 minutes lang ang isang sequence para makagawa ng isang episode [In making indie films, you finish one hour per sequence on the average. Sometimes in TV, you have to finish one sequence in 30 minutes to finish one episode],” shared Cardoz.
Documentary programs also have intrinsically long working hours due the method of shooting required to be able to create documentaries.
“Pinakamahirap yung long working hours kasi nga documentary siya. Sa docu medyo mahirap i-apply yung max na 8 hours, posible siguro yung 12 hours kasi nga reality ang shinu-shoot, may real life happenings kang sinusundan. [The hardest part of the job is the long working hours to produce the documentary. In producing documentaries, it would be hard to apply maximum eight hours of work, maybe 12 hours is possible because we are documenting reality, following real-life happenings],” said Shao Masula, Executive Producer of Peabody awardee ReelTime.
Travel, mealtime breaks and waiting time add up to the long working hours and tedious working conditions in the movie and television industry.
“Hindi pa kasama ang oras ng lunch, dinner at ibang breaks. Kaya nauso ang working break. Pero ang totoo, di naman talaga pwede yun. Dahil kailangan bigyan ng tamang oras ang pagkain lalo na sa mga mabibigat ang work, tagabuhat ng ilaw, taga-construct ng set. [Those shoot hours does not include time for lunch, dinner and other breaks. That’s how working breaks were invented. But in truth, you cannot work and eat at the same time because there should be proper time allotted for eating, especially those with heavy workload like those who carry the lights or construct the sets],” Cardoz added.
Out-of-town work would definitely be unable to comply with an eight hour limit. But Vladimir Martin, news cameraman of TV5, has a suggestion.
“Dapat siguro kung out of town, imbis na palitan yung mga naka-assign ay i-assign na yung papalit sa kanila. For example, for a two cam set up, magpadala ng 4 na cameraman. Salitan sila pag pagod na. [If the shoot is out-of-town, instead of sending crew to relieve the ones out on the field, the relievers should be assigned and deployed from the beginning. For example, for a two cam setup, send four cameramen. They could share the workload when tired.],” said Martin.
Aside from working hours, security risks abound in out-of-town work.
“Isa pa eh yung kaligtasan mo. Lagi kang nasa biyahe at pumupunta sa mga liblib at minsan mga pinakadelikadong lugar. Mataas ang risk ng disgrasya at pagkamatay. Eh wala kaming hazard pay at death benefits. [Another difficulty is your safety. You are always traveling and going to far-flung areas and sometimes dangerous areas. The risks of accident and death are high. But we don’t have hazard pay and death benefits],” said Masula.
Writers would still have to find out how their jobs will be eased by the 8 to 12-hour work limit.
“Usually sa isang araw, may meeting, tumatagal yun ng half day…After nun kasi pag-uwi, magsusulat pa ang writers. So ang prod people tulog na, ang writers nagsusulat pa [Usually a day in a week, there is a meeting, it would last for half a day. After that, when writers go home, they still have to write. So the production people are already asleep but the writers are still writing],” shared Josel Garlitos, writer of Banana Sundae and long-running show Goin’ Bulilit.
Garlitos wonders if extending script deadlines would be applied so that writers may benefit from the new work hour limit. But he also sees that the situation of writers would more or less be the same even after DOLE Labor Advisory #4.
Pay, benefits and welfare must also be addressed
The labor advisory included minimum benefits “regardless of the nature of engagement, shall not be lower than the minimum standards under the Labor Code.”
Social benefits pushed for within the advisory would only be met within the bounds of company policy, employment agreement and in cases of the presence of a union, collective bargaining agreement. But most workers in the media industry are hired as talents or individual service contractors who, by large, pay for their own social benefits such as SSS, Pag-ibig, Philhealth if they wish to avail of them.
“Makakatulong kung magiging malinaw kung ano ang mga dapat makuha ng mga tao. Kung hindi ako bibigyan ng benepisyo, dapat tama ang sweldo ko. [Stating what benefits workers should receive would help. Because if I am not given benefits, I should get proper salary.],” said Cardoz.
Getting a proper salary, raising the pay of workers and talents remain a major, if not primordial, concern.
“Sa tingin ko dapat standardized ang salary at hindi nakabase kung primetime ba ang show mo o kung public affairs ka ba o entertainment. Yung sweldo ko dati per episode bilang researcher 13 years ago ay tumaas lang ng konti yung sahod ng karamihan sa researchers ngayon. Unfair ang talent fee scheme. [I think salary should be standardized and should not be based on whether your show is on primetime or in public affairs or entertainment. The salary I get for every episode as a researcher 13 years ago increased only a little for many of the researchers now. The talent fee scheme is unfair.],” said Masula.
Masula thinks that the food and accommodation allowance should be raised as well at a level that dignifies the workers.
Putting premium on human resources
How the media networks will adjust to the new labor advisory, for which they were consulted prior to release, are yet in the offing.
How DOLE would and could monitor that the work hour limit is followed, sans complaints, is another question.
Garlitos said there could be a scenario where production might resort to cramming and that, in turn, would generate outputs of poor quality.
Workers also wonder if this would mean getting more pay for since most who worked for as long as 24 hours were only paid equivalent to one day salary. Some feared that this would mean lower pay.
“Sa part ng network it could mean more gastos pero naniniwala ako na mas malaking asset ang tao, ang mga empleyado, kaya dapat mas inisiip mo ang well being nila. Dapat nag-iinvest ka sa kanila. If the 8-hour working scheme would mean an additional shoot day, dapat ituring mo na investment yung gastos mo sa dagdag na isang araw na shoot. [On the part of the network, it could mean additional costs but I believe that their biggest assets are the people, their employees, so you have to think of their well-being. You should invest in them. If the 8-hour working scheme would mean an additional shoot day, the company should treat that as an investment.],” said Masula.
“Matutupad ba ito? Sana kasi kailangan talaga i-regulate ang working hours for health reasons. Ang kailangan gawin [ng kumpanya], dagdagan ang budget. At kailangan siguro nila tanggapin yun [dagdag gastos], dahil kailangan nila palahagahan ang human resources nila. [Would this be implemented? Hopefully yes, because working hours really needed to be regulated for health reasons. Companies could augment their budget. They should accept that there would be additional costs because they need to value their human resources],” said Cardoz.
“Kapag healthy at masaya ang mga empleyado mo, mas maganda ang output nila [If your employees are healthy and happy, their create better outputs],” Masula concluded.
