By Rodolfo Dacleson II
(May 30, 2025) – Sen. Joel Villanueva on Friday urged private employers to make work-from-home (WFH) arrangements to ease the potential impact of the impending rehabilitation of the Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) to their workers.
He called for the enforcement of Republic Act (RA) No. 11165 or the Telecommuting Act to protect workers from the daily strain of commuting despite the anticipated severe traffic congestion once the P8.7-billion EDSA Rebuild project began.
“We have been pushing for the adoption of alternative work setups since January to help our labor force prepare for this long-term rehabilitation effort,” said Villanueva, the law’s principal author, in a news release, as quoted by the Philippine News Agency.
Villanueva also stressed companies must “be more compassionate and innovate” their approach to work.
“Kawawa naman po ang ating mga empleyado na nauubos ang oras sa traffic dahil lang kailangan nilang pumasok sa opisina araw-araw para gawin ang trabaho na kaya naman nilang gawin sa kanilang kabahayan gamit ang tamang teknolohiya,” said Villanueva, who chairs the committee on labor, employment, and human resource development.
RA 11165 was signed into law in 2018 to allow the private sector to offer telecommuting programs to their employees voluntarily as they mutually agreed upon and must meet minimum labor standards, including compensation, work hours, and leave benefits.
Trade groups, however, claimed the law did little to address the work-related problems it should address supposedly, including promoting work-life balance, easing traffic gridlocks in urban areas, and modernizing labor practices.
On Wednesday, Agimat Rep. Bryan Revilla filed a measure in the House of Representatives to expand the country’s telecommuting law to also include government workers.
The EDSA rehabilitation will begin on June 13 and is projected to be completed by 2027.
It aims to address the deteriorating condition of EDSA and make the nearly 24-kilometer thoroughfare in Metro Manila more pedestrian and commuter-friendly.
Labor groups warned the rehabilitation project could expose workers to longer commuters and health risks, among additional burdens.
Earlier today, the Department of Transportation announced the addition of trains and buses to mitigate the effects of the upcoming EDSA rebuild, particularly for workers without WFH.
Our Privacy Commitment
TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.
We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.
Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?
We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:
Where do we get your personal information?
There are several ways we collect your personal information.
Information that you personally provided.
Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
Information we collect during your engagement with us
We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
Information we collect from other sources
Other means of collection of information may be through:
When do we disclose personal information?
There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.
We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.
In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.
How we protect your personal information
The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.
We also put in effect the following safeguards:
TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.
What are your choices?
We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.
If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.
Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph
What happens when there are changes in our Policy?
From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.
You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.