01/05/2023
#๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
โ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐโฆโ
This is what a minimum wage earner said when asked about her salary. That โlangโ sounded like a not-so-proud moment as a worker. Many wage workers have been stuck in enduring this kind of situation because they are left with no choice. On this day, Mayo Uno, as we remember the day for our laborers, let us also revisit the status of our country regarding these kinds of workers and why they are saying โlangโ on their salary.
A minimum wage earner in Metro Manila can bring home 570 pesos daily. This is already the highest minimum wage in the country. In the Bangsamoro region, they earn a measly amount of 341 pesos as their daily salary. However, given the inflation rate today, no matter what category they belong to, the money they take home is not enough for them to provide for all the needs of a household. Their work requires them many hours to achieve the target wage. More so, farmers and fishermen are no longer new to this crisis. They have been receiving the lowest portion of their hard work despite offering their blood, sweat, and tears. The exploitation of these kinds of people is evidentโthey work hard but they receive meager portions that are barely enough to scrape by. With that, there are a lot of labor groups calling on the Marcos administration to act on these workers. But has there been a sign that our government has listened?
It is very disappointing to see that the solutions they have thought of are always temporary, have no long-term effect, and are not mass-oriented decisions. For example, instead of giving a wage hike, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will give a total of PHP 1.8 billion financial โayudaโ on this day, the celebration of Labor Day. The sad part here is not everyone will receive it since they need to pick the โdeservingโ workers only. The sharing of financial aid with these workers is another weak strategy for them. The money will not last long due to the increase in the cost of living in the country. Even though they are opening 73,000 new job vacancies, if the rate of unemployment in the country is a hundredfold greater than the available job, nothing is eradicating the root cause of the problem. This only shows that the government is still weak in strategizing better solutions for the workers.
Until now, farmers are still no dice in the land that they are tilling. According to Cathy Estavillo, the Amihan Secretary General and Bantay Bigay spokesperson, seven out of 10 farmers do not have their own land. They continuously become leaseholders. Aside from this, our country is constantly importing rice because of the current setup that we have. The government can do something bigger to solve these problematic situations. Sad to say, the current administration is just cherry-picking problems to solve. And once again, the solutions they give are temporary.
Right now, labor groups are making progressive noise to ask the government to do something. The Kilusang Mayo Uno is calling for the urgency of the officials in giving significant wage increases, defending trade and union rights, and opening more regular jobs for all. The battle of the people should also be the battle of the government because this direction is for the benefit of the national economic community.
Today, we challenge the Marcos administration to listen to the call of the workers and the labor groups, and to feel accountability toward our working classes. Sahod, itaas! Presyo, ibaba! Stop misallocating the funds of the people. Give more jobs to the Filipinos. Stop pasting band-aids on open woundsโstop attaching temporary solutions to long-lasting problems. If the government indeed wants a better life for the Filipinos, it should be the one to initiate the changes and not force the people to just endure their situation. The government should push its people to progress.
May the government dream to see its people not saying โminimum langโ. More so, the administration should not be okay with the โbare minimumโ that they can do. Rather, they should raise the standard of their โbare minimumโ.
Words by Adrian Blando
Pubmat by Gabriel Dy
Photos from Kilusang Mayo Uno