In 2021, Philippine workers have been fighting for decent wages and job security amid the pandemic. As early as January, workers’ unions and associations have already demanded a PhP100 subsidy (about US$2) to augment their daily wage. On 7 November, the Makabayan parliamentary bloc proposed laws for wage increases amid continuous increases in petroleum prices over the past 10 weeks and the worsening crisis caused by the pandemic.
As of 21 November however, no wage increase has been enacted, even as inflation went up to 4.6% in October. Other commodities like pork, vegetables and fish recorded even higher inflation rates of 15.2%, 12.7% and 9.4%, respectively. Price increases of basic commodities are felt most adversely by the bottom 30% income group.
The current minimum wage in the National Capital Region is pegged at PhP537 (US$10.60). However, its real value is only PhP434 when inflation is taken into account. This is far below the government declared Family Living Wage of PhP1065 (US$21.10) per day for a family of five in Metro Manila.
Conditions of workers in other regions are far worse. The lowest minimum wage rates for industry and service workers are in the Ilocos region in the north at PhP252 - PhP340 and PhP290 - PhP310 in the Bangsamoro region in the south. For agricultural workers, it is even lower: PhP282 - PhP295 in Ilocos, and PhP290 - PhP310 in Bangsamoro.
Since the start of the pandemic, government figures estimate that more than half of the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises have already stopped their operations. MSMEs employ about 63% of the Philippines’ total workforce. Financial aid from the Duterte government to the MSMEs have been deemed insufficient, its distribution inefficient.
This November, the Department of Labor and Employment announced that MSMEs can access government loans so that they can provide their employees’ 13th month pay. However, only 15,000 out of 952,000 MSMEs are covered by the program.
From the 100 MSMEs which have thus far submitted loan applications, only 10 have been approved. The approved loans will be released in March 2022, long after the Christmas season when the workers expect their 13th month pay. DOLE, moreover, wants to replace the monetary benefit with distribution of groceries.