Privilege Speech

Rep. Renato B. Magtubo

Sanlakas Party List Representative

April 26, 1999

Mr. Speaker, Distinguished Colleagues, I stand before you on a matter of personal and collective privilege. After two years of economic crisis, the Filipino worker is in a dire situation and faces an immediate future fraught with insecurity. As the first of May — Labor Day — is just a few days away, I am duty bound to bring before you labor’s situation and predicament so that we may collectively ponder a course of action.

The coming May 1 is of particular significance because it is the first under President Joseph Estrada’s term. Of even greater import is that it will be the last Labor Day for the twentieth century.

After a century of capitalist expansion and production, were do the Filipino workers — or the entire working class for that matter — find themselves. Global output is estimated to run in several trillions of dollars and still workers today are faced with the same predicament as our working brothers a hundred years ago. As it was then, although of different nominal value, workers are burdened by low wages, unemployment for some and increasing prices of commodities.

Mr. Speaker, allow me to go over labor’s situation for last year because it is indicative of the progress made in the upliftment of their state.

Despite current view that our nation was not adversely affected by the krisis, the 1998 average unemployment rate was 10.1% reaching a peak of 4,278,000 unemployed workers during the second quarter. Two million eight hundred thousand Filipinos were unable to find employment last January 1999. This is higher than the January 1998 unemployment level of 2,546,000.

Even amongst those employed, more than six million workers are in search of additional employment to be able to cope with the crisis. In fact, there are more than three million Filipino workers are deemed visibly underemployed for working less than forty hours per week.

Furthermore, more than half of twenty-eight million employed Filipino workers are to be found in jobs without a regular wage. These are those classified in official statistics as the self-employed and unpaid family workers.

Considering that [1] only 49% of our workers are wage and salary workers, [2] only 554,000 worker are covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement and [3] the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) found that almost one out of four establishments they inspected violated the minimum wage standard, we estimate that almost seven million may be earning below the minimum wage.

Using the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) estimate for the peso purchasing power with 1994 as the base year, a peso now is worth only 69 centavos. Hence, the erosion of workers’ wages is such that the real value of the P198 daily minimum wage for the National Capital Region is only P136.62.

Mr. Speaker, experts ask the workers to excuse what has visited them. They aver that this is due to the current crisis. Nonetheless, fellow representatives, how can the workers accept such explanation whereas in the past decade—in crisis or in growth—almost one in every ten Filipino workers was unemployed or to be exactly 9.45% unemployment rate?

How can the Filipino workers then accept an explanation that the current crisis is the reason for their travails whereas in the period of growth (1994 – 1997) the number of Filipino families living in poverty went up to 4,553,387? How may the Filipino worker accept the avowal that by having thirty-two pesos (Php 32.00) in our pocket everyday, they would be deemed to have escaped poverty?

Fellow representatives, even before today’s general economic crisis, the ordinary Filipino citizen is in a critical and precarious situation.

Para sa ating kaalaman, noon pa mang 1996 ay nagbigay-babala ang United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at International Labor Organization (ILO) kaugnay ng jobless growth. Babala na inilathala sa panahon mismo ng mabilis na paglago ng ekonomiya ng mundo, sa kasagsagan ng globalisasyon.

Let us note that in 1996 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned us of the jobless growth phenomenon.

We may agree that globalization based on the unfettered movement of capital may result in higher and faster economic growth. Nonetheless, such growth does not automatically translate into greater benefits for the ordinary person.

The inequality is such that the UNDP said "In 1960 the 20% of the world’s people who live in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% — by 1995 82 times as much income." They also mention that "the world’s 225 richest person have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 47% of the world’s people (2.5 billion)." Furthermore, "the additional cost of achieving universal access to basic education for all, basic health care for all, reproductive health for all women, adequate food for all and safe water and sanitation for all is roughly $40 billion a year. This is less than 4% of the combined wealth of the 225 richest people in the world."

Even as the march of globalization resulted in the current crisis, the prescribed medicine is even greater liberalization. As stated by the current Administration, tariff reduction will be continued. This even as our very own countrymen—entrepreneurs and manufacturers—face collapse and bankruptcy.

Attracting foreign and domestic capital remains the priority. This would have been acceptable if it were productive capital—generating jobs— that comes in. Second, if such investments translate into adequate wages and benefits. And third, more than the first two, basic workers’ rights were not disregarded or discarded to attract investments.

But President Jospeh Estrada’s action and pronouncements are to the contrary.

Last year, the call for a ten-year suspension of the Philippine Airlines’ Collective Bargaining Agreement came with the taunt, "can you eat your CBA". This was followed by an endorsement to prohibit workers from going on strike. Even recently, in the first quarter of 1999, a proposal to eliminate the minimum wage.

While pushing for a tax amnesty, the President also opined that those in the so-called "underground economy", the informal sector must be taxed—even as this sector is primarily made up of those striving to cope with the crisis and lack of employment in the formal sector.

As we very well know, the economic crisis is nearing the two-year mark and yet experts gaze into the near future with guarded optimism as to the possibilities for full economic recovery. One Australian even went as far as comparing the coming years as similar to the tumultuous first half of the twentieth century characterized by economic depression and political instability.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in their review of the crisis, opined that "Despite the increased prevalence of sound macroeconomic policies xxx in the 1990s, crises have shaken financial systems at approximately two-year intervals." Hence, we wonder whether we are in for an even greater difficulty for 1999 — a good two years after the 1997 East Asian financial meltdown.

Whether these dire forecasts see fruition is something we do not wish for but even the International Monetary Fund’s predicate their outlook with "the balance of risks remains on the downside." Nevertheless, one thing is sure—we face an even greater challenge ahead of us.

Fellow representatives, Mr. Tomas Africa, Administrator of the National Statistics Office (NSO), said that poverty will intensify and deepen. Based on the results of the NSO’s 1998 Annual Poverty Indicator Survey, thirteen and a half million Filipino families were affected by the crisis whereby almost two in every ten families had their incomes reduced. The report further says that, as a coping mechanism, 6.48 million families had to alter their diet while 3.915 million workers had to work even longer.

Fellow Representatives, what can we do for our workers while the crisis goes on?

Let us recall that in 1996, with a 5.7% GDP growth rate, only 1,511,000 new jobs were created. How much bigger and faster must our national production grow to resolve unemployment or even just to maintain the status quo that almost one of every ten workers are without jobs? Let us also be reminded that recently the price of oil products went up and pulling with it the prices of food.

Distinguished Colleagues, labor asks for protection. Specifically, protection of their real wage, protection of their job security and protection for their rights.

Mentioned earlier was that the value of wages is gravely eroded. As a solution, labor’s proposal to cope with the recent price increases is to raise the minimum wage rate. Furthermore, so as to protect the new wage rates, prices of basic commodities and services must be controlled.

If price controls can not be instituted, then workers have no other recourse but to ask for an across the board wage increase.

As to protecting security of tenure, the Filipino workers ask that casualization of labor be eliminated. This means that workers be accorded regular employment status after the required probationary period of employment. We must end the circumvention of law on regularizing employment after a six months probation period through five-month job contracts.

Filipino workers ask, that in the event that the previously mentioned measures may not be accorded and as the barest of protection we may give, their rights should not be diminished or restricted. Only by their right to organize, enter into collective bargaining and go on strike may the workers defend themselves against the impact of the economic crisis and globalization.

Kung noong wala pang krisis ay naaabuso na ang pagtamasa ng minimum na sahod, seguridad sa empleo at mga batayang karapatan, ngayon higit kailangan ang mga batayang proteksyon na maibibigay ng pamahalaan at lipunan.

Whereas even before the crisis such basic standards on the minimum wage rate, security of tenure and basic rights were abused. Therefore, now more than ever, government and society must ensure these basic protection.

Distinguished Colleagues, even as labor presents a call for protection of their real wages, job security and rights, the central concern is whether they will finally be rewarded for a hundred years of toil.

As mentioned earlier, this coming May 1 is the first Labor Day under the Estrada Administration. It is also the last Labor Day of the twentieth century. As such, we are given the historic opportunity to positively respond.

Consequently labor awaits with bated breath as to what capital will promise them for the new millenia? What will be their lot should there be another hundred years of capitalist production?

Will the fruits of their labor be equitably distributed or will it continue to be hoarded by a few?

It is no longer simply a matter of pitiful wage increases that hopelessly and continually fall short of the prices of commodities and services needed to live decently. Rather, should labor now ponder a different path, an alternative way of life.

That is the crossroads labor faces and the time to decide is fast approaching.

Thank you and good day to all.