Riders group call for dialogue on fuel subsidy

 

The riders’ advocacy group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) called on the government to hold a social dialogue with riders engaged in ride-hailing, food delivery and courier services for the provision of fuel subsidies. “We are asking the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to meet with riders in order to clarify its plan to distribute fuel subsidies. Riders shoulder the weekly gasoline price increases and thus deserve ayuda,” said Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general.

 

He also added that the group is supporting the call of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan for the temporary suspension of the excise taxes on oil products to reduce pump prices. The suspension is provided for under the TRAIN law but subject to certain conditions. “We believe that the extreme difficulties brought about by the weekly oil price increases for more than two months already are more than enough as supervening conditions for the suspension of excise taxes. This will benefit jeepney drivers and operators, app riders, farmers and fishers principally and the rest of the people too as oil prices impact the whole economy,” Pangan explained.

 

He added that while it welcomes the DoTr announcement that people engaged in full-time ride-hailing and delivery services are entitled to the fuel subsidy, there is no transparency in the plan. “In the first place, the DoTr does not know if the registered motorcycle owner is using his or her vehicle for platform work. Not even the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is aware of this due to the informal nature of the freelancer or independent contractor relationship,” Pangan explained.

 

“Only the apps know who their riders are. But a social dialogue should involve all stakeholders, thus riders should have voice and participation,” Pangan insisted.

 

The group averred that if riders were treated as employees not freelancers then ayuda provision would be much easier, similar to how workers were granted ayuda under CAMP or SBWS. The employment status of riders has been the subject of controversy, even sparking protests amidst the pandemic and prompting the DOLE to issue an “advisory” on the issue.

 

Kagulong earlier lambasted the DOLE advisory as “inutile” since it did not clarify the employment status of riders. “We reiterate our call for the DOLE to convene a technical working group (TWG) with riders and other freelancers. The TWG formation was a commitment of the DOLE in the 2021 labor summit meetings with workers and employers. Sadly, this is another broken promise of this administration.”

 

Kagulong is actively supporting the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Pangilinan for their commitment to the riders’ agenda and track record of participatory good governance. “Aangat ang buhay ng riders sa isang gobyernong tapat sa partisipasyon ng nasa laylayan sa pamamahala,” Pangan concluded.

Photos of riders call for fuel subsidy can be accessed here:

https://www.facebook.com/kagulong2020/posts/488947976127043

March 1, 2022

Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong

Press Release: Cavite workers call on Congress to investigate ecozone investors

Workers embroiled in a labor dispute in a Korean-owned factory in Cavite called on Congress to investigate violations of workers’ rights and labor standards by foreign investors in economic zones. The demand by workers of Sejung Apparel Inc. coincided with a solidarity visit this morning by Sen. Risa Hontiveros to their picketline.

“When foreign investors violate our labor laws with impunity, then Filipino workers are second-class citizens in our own land. We ask Congress to make incentives to foreign investors conditional on their respect for workers’ rights,” asserted Josephine Odchimar, union president.

The proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Act (CITIRA) removes incentives to foreign investors in ecozones. The Department of Finance and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority are openly debating the provisions of the bill. Labor groups on the other hand take an independent position and ask that incentives be tied to labor rights.

Odchimar added that “We welcome Sen. Risa and her staff to our picketline which has served as our home for the holidays. Similar to the story of Jesus being born in a lowly manger, we spent Christmas in a humble picketline.”

Sejung workers are demanding the release of the mandated 13^th month pay, the latest salary due workers, a stop to the removal of machines and an end to the outsourcing of production to other factories.

Meanwhile the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for lack of action in enforcing labor standards at Sejung.

“December 24 has come and gone but the DOLE still refuses to use it powers to enforce the payment of wages and 13^th month pay for workers of a ‘Grinch’ company. While DOLE officials in the national and regional offices are enjoying their happy holidays, Sejung workers had a sad Christmas and are facing a bleak New Year since labor standards are not being enforced,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

Odchimar explained that DOLE had already conducted a factory inspection last December 19 and promised to issue an order if management does not release the 13^th month pay on December 24 as mandated. However, she added that DOLE did not issue an order and instead is trying to schedule another inspection.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. What’s keeping the DOLE regional office from issuing a compliance order? Even during the mediation hearings, Sejung maintained its illegal and hardline stance that it will grant the 13^th month pay in March not December. Yet the DOLE dare not lift a finger even as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello issued press releases reminding employers about the payment of the 13^th month benefit,” Magtubo averred.

Photos of the solidarity visit can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/donnaescueta.nano/posts/10216599085550453 and https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157724749314323?__xts__[0]=68.ARAFRCJop2H-p1EpVO643elmAgPyuPLojo7ntrHEok9UjAnCbDRsjazTpvQJm0pOiw3Wfm0l6iKYQ5Q03Vs7ihV5zCyKl8BgsZFOXd5pSU9fFxGrBdZ_S4GKz0Qe8yVlMYyIPvgF_i8ey4XOWl_VWQfSgq-sJFXCJ4PRVJdlEP1CgdDpj8hx3A8HLDjSdLHA440vlGYjhsarXPUVO5agzpTrGtquexNdTLPtKnD8bt6Ff5JZgoLW8cgz7GbQyrvhBL9Hld2mWolWi53ktLpYXMFCyOafGQOKwT0FoYiW0RCfqbzKtiLb13VfIPRj3XGPe_9iEzhpmb9zgFsP8u8N&__tn__=-R

December 30, 2019

Women workers candlelight protest tonight

Media Advisory

April 30, 2019

Partido Manggagawa

Contact Judy Ann Miranda @ 09228677522

Women workers candlelight protest tonight

What: Women workers to raise demands on endo, wages and TRAIN

When: Tonight (April 30), 7 p.m.

Where: Mendiola

Details: Some 100 informal working women and students of PUP to lead a mass action tonight as a build up to the Labor Day mobilization of workers. 

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Candle lighting protest 

The issues to be raised are:

End endo! End provincial wage!

Stop TRAIN! Presyo ibaba!

Sahod itaas!

Ipatupad 105 days Expanded Maternity Leave!

Tomorrow PM and its affiliated organizations will assemble at the Petron gas station, Blumentritt along the eastbound side of Espana at 7 a.m. The group will march to Welcome Rotonda at 8 a.m. to link up with other groups for a program. And then the Labor Day march led by the Nagkaisa labor coalition will start at 9 a.m. and end at Mendiola. PM will also hold Labor Day mobilizations at Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Iligan.

Labor groups give final push to 'End ENDO Bill'

The End ENDO Bill is at the final stretch. Labor groups are eager to take it home.

"We have taken the fight this far. We expect no less than the passage of the End ENDO Bill," Atty. Sonny Matula, Chairperson of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said.

More than 500 workers from Nagkaisa members Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Sentro, Partido Manggagawa, Federation of Free Workers, AGILA, PALEA, UFSW and PSLink gathered at the doorsteps of the Senate Monday morning voicing out: "End ENDO now!"

“We would like to see that Malacañang actively engages the legislators through its Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) as it shepherds the bill to its passage, as it usually does in all certified measures,” Matula said.

In September last year, after continuous pressure from Nagkaisa, President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent the End ENDO Bill.

"We call on President Duterte to ensure that his decision to certify as urgent the passage of Senate Bill 1826 is carried to the letter by all his allies in the Senate by passing the bill as it is," Matula said.

“We urge our Senators to follow the lead of Senate President Tito Sotto who said that the End ENDO Bill is the upper chamber's priority at the beginning of the year," said Matula.

Nagkaisa's rally happened hours before Senate Bill 1826 was subjected to the long overdue deliberations at the Committee on Labor.

“It is now up to the Senate, under your leadership, Mr. Senate President, to realize this long-standing aspiration of the workers and the people.”

The Lower House has approved its version of the End ENDO Bill as early as January last year.

"The abuses on contractual and agency workers get worse each day that passes without an End ENDO Law to protect them,” Matula said.

"With only a few session days to go, the Senate is running out of time to deliver on a presidential promise—to end ENDO,” Matula said.

“The President has certified to the Senate for urgent legislation the End ENDO Bill in September. But to our great disappointment, the workers' priority bill was left to the back burner by the foot-dragging of the senators on second reading, who appear to be disinterested in addressing the continuing exploitation of labor,” Matula said.

“Workers are becoming anxious. The rising cost of basic commodities stemming from the inflation caused by the TRAIN Law, will worsen the situation of millions of poor workers who up to now have no security of tenure,” Matula said.

The Senate will be suspending its session to give way to the elections.

“While your legislative work will come to a halt, workers will continue the hard toil.  Ending ENDO will no doubt be a major election issue for us. We will remember those who stood up for workers and forget those who sat idly by the side,” Matula said.

Feb. 4, 2019
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition

Labor Yearender: Endo, TRAIN spur labor disputes, workers’ unity

The unfulfilled promise to end contractualization and the runaway inflation due to the imposition of TRAIN led to an outbreak of labor disputes in 2018 and the forging of a historic unity among workers’ groups in the country. According to the latest data from the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), there were 21% more notices of strikes from January to August this year compared to the same period last year. Of the nine actual strikes recorded, five of them involved issues of regularization of workers.

Spurred by the resurgence in workers’ militancy, the country’s rival labor groups finally came together in a joint mass action in the Labor Day commemoration this year. The coalition Nagkaisa, which comprise some 40 labor groups and institutions, joined forces with the Kilusang Mayo Uno in a massive May 1 march from Espana to Mendiola. The disparate labor groups once more came together, along with other social movements and civil society organizations, in the United People’s Action during the State of the Nation address of President Duterte. Formally coming together as Manggagawa Ayaw sa Diktadura, the rival labor organizations marched again as one to slam the threat of a new dictatorship during the commemoration of the declaration of martial law last September 21.

While statistics from the NCMB show that actual strikes were down from 15 to just 9 (January to August this year compared to last year), the government’s data is inaccurate. To cite just one example, it does not include the strike last May at the Dong Seung garments factory in the Cavite ecozone. The Dong Seung strike is the latest in a string of disputes and struggles at the country’s biggest ecozone in the last four years. As a result, a dialogue finally started this year between labor groups, the DOLE and the Philippine Ecozone Authority to guarantee respect for freedom of association.

As the latest NCMB data covered only August, it does not list the biggest strike this year. On September 28, workers of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco in Marikina and Vigan went on strike for more than one month against mass layoff and job outsourcing.  Undoubtedly many of the disputes and majority of the actual strikes involve contractualization.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced in its yearend report that some 400,000 workers were regularized this year. If it were true, it is most welcome. Unfortunately the data is suspect as it has not been independently verified. The DOLE based its figures from reports by companies which obviously have an interest in bloating the numbers. It was also not reported if the workers were made regular in the principal companies or just in the manpower agencies.

What is undeniable is that the DOLE’s own compliance orders to regularize workers in the country’s biggest companies have not been implemented. Worse, it has led to mass termination of workers. Last October the DOLE NCR regional office released an order to regularize some 2,600 contractual workers in dozens of agencies used by Philippine Airlines and PAL Express. The order has been appealed by management and has not been complied with. A similar order early this year on the telco giant PLDT to regularize 7,300 endo employees was defied through the termination of service contracts with 39 contractors and thus the retrenchment of the workers.

In the face of a spike in prices, a wave of wage hikes were ordered by different regional wage boards in the country. The increases however were below the amount needed to recover the lost purchasing power of workers’ wages. To cite an example, the P25 hike in Metro Manila is short by 30% to make up for the P35.84 erosion in wages due to the average 7% inflation in the NCR. Partido Manggagawa’s own cost of living estimate for a family of five in Metro Manila is around P1,300 a day, more than double the new minimum wage of P537. This continues the pattern of worsening inequality—real wages are stagnating despite the 50% productivity growth from 2001 to 2016.

The coming new year under the neoliberal and bloody policies of the Duterte administration does not augur well for the working class. On the heap of the broken promises of ending endo and abolishing regional wages, the workers should develop their own power through unity and action. The challenge for the workers movement in 2019 is to build upon the resurgence of militancy and the forging of labor unity to make the popular clamor for change a reality.

December 29, 2018

Workers more concerned with lost buying power than the missing files of Sen. Trillanes

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) has accused President Duterte of wasting his time and power in  neutralizing his political opponents rather than in arresting the deluge of high prices, saying that at the moment workers are more concerned with their lost purchasing power than the missing amnesty files of Sen. Trillanes.

“Ang problema ng manggagawa ngayon ay ang nagtataasang presyo at bumabagal na ekonomiya hindi ang rebelyon ni Trillanes noon laban kay Gloria,” lamented PM chair Renato Magtubo.

Trillanes, a fierce critic of President Duterte, is contesting the latter’s attempt to lock him up by revoking the amnesty privilege granted to him by President Benigno Aquino III in 2010.  Duterte revoked Trillanes’ amnesty because his application form is reportedly missing from DND records.

“This move is easier to figure out now as the void ab initio principle applied to Trillanes is preceded by the quo warranto approach employed against CJ Sereno. This revocation can be as stealthy as quo warranto but for whose gain? A fascist’s appetite for absolute power is not the same with the workers’ desire for economic relief,” said Magtubo.

The group complained that while workers are losing their buying power due to runaway inflation, the President remains preoccupied with consolidating power and the persecution of his political adversaries.

“You cannot stop Sen. Trillanes and other critics from speaking their minds on many issues especially now that economic problems are weighing down the poor. What you can surely prevent is the worsening of inflation by stopping your TRAIN and repressing market manipulation by unscrupulous traders and businessmen. But where are you on this issue, Mr. President?” asked Magtubo.

Inflation hits a national average of 6.4% last month, the highest since 2009. NCR posted a higher rate at 7% while ARMM had 8.1%.

“Ang hinahanap dapat ng Pangulo ay ang solusyon sa problemang ito hindi ang nawawalang file ng kalabang senador,” concluded Magtubo.

6 September 2018

Bagsak na kabuhayan dahil sa nagtaasang presyo, pondong naglalaho

Salamat sa TRAIN, sabi ng mga economic managers ni Pangulong Duterte. Lumaki ng 20% ang tax collection ngayon lamang kalahati ng taong 2018. Salamat sa TRAIN, tumaas ang take-home pay ng mga nakakaangat na uri sa amin. Salamat sa TRAIN, unti-unti na raw mapopondohan ang build, build, build (BBB) projects ng administrasyon.

Pero may narinig na ba kayong mahirap na nagpasalamat sa TRAIN? Wala dahil mahirap magpasalamat sa bagay na siyang nagpapahirap sa atin. Dahil sa TRAIN ay nagtaasan lahat ng presyo ng bilihin at serbisyo. Kaya’t habang sila ay galak na nagpapasalamat dito, tayo ay namumulubi sa perwisyong dala ng pasaning ito.

Kaya isinagasa sa atin ang TRAIN ay para daw mapondohan ang mga programa ng gubyerno. Pero bakit nawala ang pondo sa pabahay ng maralita? Bakit nabawasan din ang pondo sa edukasyon, kalusugan, at iba pang serbisyo? Dahil ba hindi naman ito problema at ayon kay DBM Secretary Ben Diokno, hindi naman magugutom ang mahihirap kung magsisipag lang?

Balikan natin ang pondo sa pabahay. Sa halagang P2.8B para sa housing sector ay walang bagong pabahay na maitatayo. Halos singlaki lang ito ng P2.5B intelligence fund ni Pangulong Duterte. Kaya’t ang mangyayari ngayon ay may pondo ang HUDCC, HGC at NHA para lamang umandar ang kanilang mga opisina at hindi para magtayo ng mga bagong pabahay.

Dahil daw ito sa bagong sistema ng cash-based budgeting. Ang hindi raw marunong gumastos ng pondo sa loob ng isang taon ay hindi bibigyan ng panggastos. Bilyun-bilyon daw kasi ang hindi nagagastos dahil sa bagal ng implementasyon ng mga ahensya ng gubyerno.

Pero bakit maralita ang magdurusa sa kapalpakan ng mga ahensyang ito? Kung umistambay ang NHA sa programang pabahay, ang mga opisyal dapat nito ang tinapyas hindi ang pondo sa pabahay.

Nang magreklamo ang economic managers sa kawalan ng pondong gagamitin sa pederalismo, ang sabi ng Pangulo sa kanila ay gawan ito ng paraan. Pero sa isyu ng pondo sa pabahay, hindi na nag-iisip ng paraan, diretso agad sa tapyasan. Sa madaling salita, magkakaroon ng pondo para itayo ang bahay ng pederalismo pero sa pantayo ng bahay ng maralita, wala.

Huwag natin itong payagan. Mas malaking pondo para sa pabahay at iba pang serbisyo, ipaglaban! Dagdag na buwis labanan! Kaltas sa badyet ng pabahay pigilan!

Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino

30 Agosto 2018

Workers slam Duterte’s SONA for dishonesty on endo

In reaction to the SONA of President Rodrigo Duterte, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today called him out for being less than honest on his statement about contractualization.

Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, said that “PRRD was less than honest on endo. The 300,000 workers allegedly regularized have either been terminated as companies appeal the DOLE compliance order or have merely been made regular employees of agencies. He had the power to promulgate an executive order that made direct hiring the norm in employment relations but instead he signed a lame EO 51. He asked Congress to a law to end contractualization but he still has not certified the Security of Tenure bill as urgent.”

“PRRD obviously feels the pressure of the workers’ demand against contractualization but still refuses to heed the demand to decisively end it. Workers have enough of his alibis and broken promises. It is up to workers movement to fight for an end to endo,” he added.

Yesterday, PM mobilized a thousand workers and poor in a “tambay protest” in the NHA main office before joining the massive United People’s SONA. The group and its affiliated Alyansa ng Maralitang Pilipino (AMP) slammed the NHA for being negligent or “tambay” in providing for the housing needs of the poor thus resulting in unused units and years-old wait for beneficiaries.

Magtubo insisted that “There was nothing new in the SONA 2018.  PRRD’s SONA 2018 was boring despite the direction of romcom queen Joyce Bernal and compared to the action-drama of the House coup. Even the spectators inside the Batasan were not as excited as before when PRRD’s SONA was interrupted by standing ovations and vigorous clapping. The power play in the House of Representatives, the drop in PRRD’s satisfaction ratings and the massive United People’s SONA rally took the thunder out of the speech.”

PM chapters in the cities of Cebu, Bacolod and Davao also joined rallies or activities together with other groups in those areas as part of the nationwide counter-SONA events.

“We shed no tears for the hour-long delay in the SONA. The House intramurals expose that the old rotten politics is alive and kicking under PRRD despite his repeated promises of change. Bulok, bulok, bulok sa halip na build, build, build,” Magtubo asserted.

He furthered that “PRRD was silent on the workers demand for a wage increase and his promise to end wage regionalization or ‘provincial rates’ in his own words. On the other hand, he was adamant in supporting the TRAIN law that has eroded workers’ wages as inflation continues to worsen. And he has called for passage of regressive TRAIN 2 that will lower corporate taxes.”

“Workers and the poor are suffering under PRRD. Besides endo and inflation, workers communities are ravaged by the bloody war on drugs and the wanton arrest of tambays. Which will be relentless as PRRD has insisted in SONA 2018. Human lives are protected and upheld by human rights despite PRRD’s rhetoric. The more than 12,000 mostly poor Filipinos who have been killed in the war on drugs unequivocally reveals that human lives are lost when human rights are disparaged,” Magtubo averred.

July 24, 2018

SONA2018: Boring speech compared to action-drama of House coup

PRRD’s SONA 2018 was boring despite the direction of romcom queen Joyce Bernal and compared to the action-drama of the House coup. Even the spectators inside the Batasan were not as excited as before when PRRD’s SONA was interrupted by standing ovations and vigorous clapping.

We shed no tears for the hour-long delay in the SONA. The House intramurals expose that the old rotten politics is alive and kicking under PRRD despite his repeated promises of change. Bulok, bulok, bulok sa halip na build, build, build.

The power play in the House of Representatives, the drop in PRRD’s satisfaction ratings and the massive United People’s SONA rally took the thunder out of the speech.

There was nothing new in the SONA 2018. PRRD obviously feels the pressure of the workers’ demand against endo but still refuses to heed the demand to decisively end it. He was less than honest on endo. The 300,000 workers allegedly regularized have either been terminated as companies appeal the DOLE compliance order or have merely been made regular employees of agencies. He had the power to promulgate an executive order that made direct hiring the norm in employment relations but instead he signed a lame EO 51. He asked Congress to a law to end contractualization but he still has not certified the Security of Tenure bill as urgent.

PRRD was silent on the workers demand for a wage increase and his promise to end wage regionalization or “provincial rates” in his own words. On the other hand, he was adamant in supporting the TRAIN law that has eroded workers’ wages as inflation continues to worsen. And he has called for passage of regressive TRAIN 2 that will lower corporate taxes.

Workers and the poor are suffering under PRRD. Besides endo and inflation, workers communities are ravaged by the bloody war on drugs and the wanton arrest of tambays. Which will be relentless as PRRD has insisted in SONA 2018. Human lives are protected and upheld by human rights despite PRRD’s rhetoric. The more than 12,000 most poor that have been killed in the war on drugs unequivocally reveals that human lives are lost when human rights is disparaged.

23 July 2018

PDigong asked for an EO to abolish “provincial rates” of workers

Similar to the broad unity forged in the fight to end endo, different labor groups are now raising a common demand for a national minimum wage. The change in wage fixing from regional to national will be facilitated by a Presidential Executive Order directing the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to review and amend RA 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989.

The Executive Order should direct the DOLE to draft a new wage fixing bill after consultation with labor, employers and other sectors. The bill should then be certified urgent to Congress by the President.

This effort will pave the way for the realization of PDigong’s promise to labor in their dialogue to end what he termed as “provincial rates” of worker’s wages.

RA 6727 and its implementing rules and regulations sets the minimum wage rates by region through the establishment of regional wage boards and a criteria for the determination of the amount of wage increases.

Left alone, the regional wage boards cannot satisfy the demand of workers for a substantial and uniform increase in the minimum wage as demanded by different labor groups. Historically, for almost three decades, the wage boards have granted minimum wage hikes that are less than PhP 1,000 per month. This is a far cry from what is needed today to augment the lives of low income workers gravely affected by the rising cost of living.

The root of this cheap labor policy is that regional wage boards base their determination of minimum wage increases on employers’ capacity to pay instead on the prevailing cost of living and living wage.

Meanwhile, aside from ordering the wage boards to motu proprio conduct public hearings, the President should clarify that they should base their determination for a minimum wage increase on the prevailing cost of living and living wage.

May 28, 2018

Workers call on Duterte to order a national minimum wage

The militant labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on President Rodrigo Duterte to implement a national minimum wage as he had previously promised. This was PM’s response to the directive of the President yesterday for the Labor Department to convene the regional wage boards to study the grant of salary increases in the face of sharp inflation.

“The order to convene the regional wage boards falls short of a firm presidential response to the inflationary crisis. For the past three decades, wage orders by the regional boards are so low that at present it cannot offset the impact of the rising cost of living brought about by the TRAIN law and profiteering by unscrupulous employers. President Duterte should amend his order to explicitly ask a substantial salary hike as a relief measure and direct the wage boards to raise minimum wages to a national level,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

The PM leader recalled that in a dialogue with labor leaders, President Duterte declared that there is need to abolish what he termed as “provincial rates” of workers. “Now is the perfect time to turn mere words into presidential action,” Magtubo insisted.

He added that “The substantial increase can be attained only if the wage boards will decisively base the determination of minimum wages on the cost of living and the living wage criteria not on their default criterion—the capacity to pay of employers. Because of this subjective criterion, records will show that the increase in minimum wage rates granted by the regional wage boards do not exceed PhP 1,000 per month, a far cry from the additional burden of expenses incurred by low income earners to date brought about by the rising inflation.”

The group stated that the present mechanism of fixing minimum wage rates per region should be abolished for it does not satisfy the mandate of the Constitution of granting workers a living wage. “While the abolition of the regional wage boards require the repeal of the ‘Wage Rationalization Act of 1989,’ there is no rule preventing the existing boards from coordinating towards raising wages to a national minimum in response to a presidential call,” Magtubo affirmed.

He furthered that “Wage regionalization does not conform to the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value.” Differentiating wage rates on the geographical location where a worker works which is absurd. Why would an equally capacitated carpenter differ in minimum wage rate in a construction firm because one works in Quezon City and the other in Bulacan?”

May 27, 2018

Wage increase now!

A supervening event from the sharp inflationary impact of the TRAIN law is enough reason for the regional wage boards to conduct summary proceedings on the necessity of wage hikes even in the absence of wage petitions within their respective regions. 

Evidently, the effect of TRAIN law on inflation is fast and furious nationwide hence, the regional wage boards need not wait a year to lapse from their last issued wage orders before they can conduct public hearings on wage petitions. In fact, they can even act moto propio on this issue on the basis of a supervening event like this one. 

Workers, especially the majority of wage earners who gained nothing from TRAIN yet ending up devastatingly hit by inflation, clearly need a wage hike now.

 

On the other hand, we would like to point out that a wage hike in the immediate would merely mean recovery of the lost purchasing power of wages due to inflation. In the long term, this action will neither rectify the structural defects in the country’s wage fixing mechanism that keep wages low nor satisfy the worker’s right to a living wage mandated by the Constitution.

In other words, while a wage hike is an immediate concern for workers now due to the effects of TRAIN, reforming the existing wage policy has long been a necessity demanded by labor under different regimes, including the Duterte administration. As a matter of fact, aside from his unfulfilled promise to make endo history, President Duterte has yet to abolish the ‘provincial rates system’ in favor of a national minimum wage standard that he promised during the presidential campaign and previous dialogues with organized labor.

Unfortunately for now, the President only has the TRAIN law to drain our pockets, with the poor shouldering the pay-pay-pay (PPP) part of the build-build-build (BBB) program of the administration.

Mr. President, either you stop the TRAIN or let the poor bleed some more.

25 May 2018

Quo warranto vs Sereno was a political coup

The decision of the Supreme Court to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno can never be considered as a triumph of justice. It’s purely a result of a political coup organized from both the outside and inside of the country’s deteriorating state of institutions.   

Sereno was clearly ousted not because of her missing SALNs but mainly because of her missing loyalty to the Chief Executive.  And while the quo warranto was effectively used only as a means to achieve the end of administratively ousting the Chief Justice, it’s the political side of it that’s more intimidating as far as the whole nation is concerned.  It’s not really the quo warranto proceedings, we believe, that has become a threat to the SC itself as an institution.  Rather, it’s the majority vote that is worth watching as this number has already become a political trend in itself.    

Is it the same majority that will ensure the victory of Bongbong Marcos before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal? Will the same majority vote in favor of ConAss to ensure the smooth sailing of the chacha train? Were they the same majority who voted to reverse the FASAP decision 20 years after? 

The recent decision on former CJ Sereno provides a preview of what’s going to be the next big things this ruling majority will do or undo in this increasingly becoming confused and supressed nation.

11 May 2018

Workers to troop to Congress tomorrow for SONA reaction, demand end endo

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the SONA of President Rodrigo Duterte for failing to tackle the delivery of campaign promises including ending contractualization. Tomorrow, members of PM along with other groups from the labor coalition Nagkaisa will troop to Congress to call for the passage of the Security of Tenure bill.

“Duterte’s SONA—minus the stories and curses—was all about death and taxes. People will die. Filipinos will be taxed. Taxes will be used for the war on drugs and the armed forces instead of for social services. In contrast, the SONA’s silence on endo and other reform promises was deafening,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and spokesperson of Nagkaisa.

More than a hundred workers will assemble at the gates of Batasang Pambansa at 11:00 am tomorrow to push for the enactment of a law to prohibit all forms of contractualization. It will also be an opportunity for labor to air its reaction on the SONA.

Magtubo explained that “The SONA was full of sound and fury but signifying nothing for workers. Workers got absolutely nothing from the two-hour long SONA speech of President Duterte. The SONA started on the theme of the promise of change. Thus workers waited for Duterte to elaborate on the delivery of the promises. But not a single word on ending endo. And no much else too on other social reform issues.”

“Instead the narrative of whether promises were delivered were overshadowed by Duterte’s rambling rants against his critics, principally human rights advocates and the mass media. Indeed the rants were an entertaining distraction from the embarrassing topic of undelivered promises. Paradoxically only China was unreservedly praised,” he added.

Magtubo insisted that workers were left with unanswered questions after the SONA. “So has the promise of change been delivered? Obviously not, but why? After the hours-long stories, curses and boasts, how will the lives of the workers and the poor be changed permanently? Of these, there were no answers,” he argued.

Labor coalition welcomes lower tax on personal income but rejects regressive impact of excise taxes

Workers have long been demanding for higher tax exemptions, hence, the approval by the House of Representatives of Package 1 of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) is a welcome relief.

Under the TRAIN, income lower than P250,000 per year will be tax free while higher income brackets, except for those who earn more than P5 million, will be charged a lowered tax rate of 25% from the current high of 32%.

This is surely a welcome development.  But for the labor coalition Nagkaisa, the workers’ gain in Personal Income Tax (PIT) will be offset in a regressive manner by the imposition of excise taxes on fuel products and the lifting of VAT exemptions in the sale of specific goods and services.

“Everyone knows, not just workers, that it will increase prices of goods and services that would affect mostly the poor and those at the lower income brackets,” said Nagkaisa spokesman Renato Magtubo. 

Magtubo said the TRAIN’s objective of shifting the tax burden from the poor to the rich, “Seems to be scheming if not tricky as forgone revenue on the side of the government, which is equivalent to individual savings derived from lower PIT of specific income group, shall be recovered in a universal manner through excise taxes and expanded VAT.”

The group explained further that the tax base can never be expanded through exemptions in PIT and corporate income, making indirect taxation through excise taxes and VAT expansion the main strategy in generating new and more revenue.  “Otherwise, nobody is going to pay for the lost revenue,” added Magtubo.

Under TRAIN’s package 1, a P3.00-P6.00 excise taxes will be imposed per liter on fuel and P10 for locally produced sugary products while several VAT-exempt products and services will be lifted, including cooperative income exceeding the P3 million thresholds.  Likewise, sale of real estate for socialized housing will now be covered by VAT.

According to the group, even the simulations made by staffs of the finance department showed the inevitable impact of increase in VAT payments by decile group – 43% for the richest 10% and 35% for the bottom 80%.  Increase for the second richest 10% is 22%. 

“An increase of 43 and 22 per cent respectively may mean nothing for the richest 20% who got significant savings from PIT exemptions.  But a 35% increase is surely a burden for the bottom 80% who includes the majority in the formal and informal sector, employed and unemployed, of the working class.  In the same manner everyone will be paying for the direct and indirect impact of excise taxes on fuel,” explained Magtubo. 

The labor leader added that those living in SPUG areas which rely on diesel as their single source of power will be absorbing a “minimal” impact, according to DOF.  But that would mean additional P84 for those who consume 100 kWh per month and P106 for those who consume 300 kWh. 

“These are the immediate impact that will hit everyone while the poor wait for the promised transfers contained in the proposed expenditure programs of the government,” said Magtubo.

The group said it will intervene in the continuing deliberation of the tax package in Congress especially on the proposed lowering of income taxes for corporations from 30% to 25%. 

“Our main question for this is why a tax rate on corporate income, which is supposed to be a tax on profit, is being lowered down to the same level of personal income which is a tax on labor?  A uniform rate on business and personal income can never be considered progressive taxation,” concludes Magtubo.”

NAGKAISA

On Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Package 1

13 June 2017