DSWD stampede could have been prevented by universal aid--labor group

Photo from Manila Times

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) on Tuesday said that targeted or non-universal systems of providing cash aid and other social protection programs to poor Filipinos will always face administrative gridlock if not chaos like what happened to yesterday’s roll out of DSWD’s educational assistance.

 

“When poor people cross the lines because they were ill-informed of proper qualifications and procedures, the problem therefore lies not with their unruly behaviors but primarily with the non-universal and non-permanent system of social protection,” stated PM Chair Renato Magtubo.

 

Magtubo was referring to prior announcements made by Secretary Erwin Tulfo himself as regards qualification and limited venue for the payout of educational assistance.

 

The DSWD announced earlier that 4Ps beneficiaries are no longer qualified for education aid, only for the agency to issue further clarification later that a certificate of indigency is no longer required as a copy of enrollment certificate would suffice to qualify in the program, thus the confusion.

 

“Secretary Tulfo, with his signature sharp eye and acid tongue for even the smallest amount of ‘kapalpakan’ of even the lowest public official, should have learned hard lessons from the chaotic roll out of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in the earlier stage of the program. Hindi pala simpleng naitu-Tulfo ang problema ng kahirapan,” said Magtubo.

 

Magtubo said the DSWD episode yesterday also reminded him of the Wowowee stampede which killed at least 70 people.

 

“The government should constantly be reminded of the fact that unsolved problems of poverty and misery sent waves of people crashing into the gates of Philsports Arena in 2006. Yesterday was a reminder to Secretary Tulfo that graduating from poverty in a country as highly unequal as the Philippines needs less pep talk but serious structural reforms.”

 

The labor group suggested that varied forms of social protection be placed into a basket under a system that is universal and permanent in nature such as universal health care, education for all, unemployment insurance, employment guarantee, living pension for the elderly, and other forms.

 

“Universalization eventually reforms the system of patronage today where the sick, the unemployed, the elderly, the children and their parents must assume debts of gratitude from politicians and other government officials who were given special privileges and access to public funds for dole out,” explained Magtubo.

 

On the contrary, added the labor leader and incumbent Councilor of the City of Marikina, targeted systems create discrimination and inequality even among the poor who need to qualify themselves first as either belonging to the poorest of the poor, near poor, or an indigent in general.

 

“Para mareporma, ang scholarship fund o educational assistance, halimbawa, ay diretso na dapat sa mga iskwelahan at mga ahensya ng gubyerno na lamang ang mag-usap at mag-account. Ganundin sa healthcare, ang pasyente ay hindi na kailangang dumaan kanino mang opisyal dahil ang bahay o tanggapan ni honorable ay hindi naman pagamutan,” concluded Magtubo.

22 August 2022

P50B subsidy for SME workers is too little, too complicated

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the P50 billion subsidy for workers in the SME sector is “too little, too complicated.” Rene Magtubo, PM national chair, proposed instead a P10,000 wage subsidy to all wage and salaried workers.

He added that “The wage subsidy to SME workers suffers from the same problems as the social amelioration program (SAP) and covid-19 adjustment measures program (CAMP)—the amount of aid are not enough and all are difficult to implement since targeted and discriminatory.”

“A universal basic income for all Filipinos in needed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. This is the spirit behind the P10K subsidy for all formal workers,” Magtubo explained.

He insisted that “The labor coalition Nagkaisa and the rest of the labor movement is not alone in asking for this reasonable demand. The Pope Francis in his Easter message called on governments for this. Even solons such as Rep. Joey Salceda has elaborated on the need for a universal system since targeted delivery of aid suffers from implementation issues which we have all seen.”

PM pointed out to the fact that one month into the community quarantine in Metro Manila and Luzon, a lot workers that temporarily loss their jobs are still without aid from the government or their employers.

“Even the DOLE admits that not all employers have applied for CAMP since some are afraid of being cited for labor standards violations that will be exposed in their payroll. Of those that have applied, large companies are pending since SME’s are the priority. As for SAP, we all know that LGU’s are complaining that the quota given by the national government falls short of the number of poor beneficiaries. Universal not targeted aid. Ayudang sapat para sa lahat. Kailangan pa bang i-memorize ito,” Magtubo explained.

April 15, 2020

No ultimate Yolanda recovery without stable employment - labor group

PRESS RELEASE

08 November 2014

The government in many aspects of the Yolanda relief and rehabilitation is a miserable failure.  A major element of the rehabilitation program where it failed the most is job creation, the local group of Partido Manggagawa (PM) in Tacloban said in a statement.

“No ultimate recovery will take place in Yolanda avenue without jobs and livelihood opportunities for its people,” asserted Judy Torres the party’s spokesman in the region.

The group had been calling for the government to make employment a priority in the Yolanda rehabilitation program.   Torres drives and operates a tricycle in Tacloban prior to Yolanda. He heads the city’s federation of tricycle drivers and operators.

According to Torres, PM and other labor groups in the region under Tingog have submitted petitions and participated in several dialogues with concerned government agencies.  “But concrete response come too slow and in trickles,” said Torres.

The labor group said the people of Leyte and Samar were manifestly strong and resilient to survive the 365 punishing days after Yolanda, “but were too tired to countenance another year without jobs or regular sources of income.”

Torres said that most of the region’s working people, particularly those who lost their formal jobs and those who lost their means of livelihood in the informal economy, survive on temporary employment provided by the government, the private sector and NGO-sponsored programs. 

“But these jobs are by nature temporary, 15 days at most under a government program, thus neither these provide a feeling of security nor lift the spirits and dignity of the hapless victims of Yolanda.  And the sad part of it is realizing that at the end of these programs, a jobless reality takes over,” lamented Torres.

Employment figures in Leyte is invisible since it was excluded in the Labor Force Survey (LFS) since April 2014.   The 2013 LFS prior to Yolanda put the unemployment rate in Eastern Visayas at 5.4% and 25.2% underemployment. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that some 19,000 workers lost their jobs to Yolanda in November last year.

The group said the government could have transformed the crisis into an employment opportunity in the areas of agriculture, mass housing, healthcare, reconstruction and infrastructure, power and transportation, green jobs, and the expansion of public service industry.  Had it been done this way, the government would have had a clear framework that centers on employment. 

In addition, the government could have demanded more money or reparation from industrial nations who are responsible for climate crisis, to ensure the country’s fast and sustainable recovery.

Labor group seeks special audit for DAP

PRESS RELEASE

4 July 2014

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today added its voice to the mounting call to have the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) subjected to a special audit after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.

PM said Malacañang’s defense that there was nothing wrong in it since it was done in good faith is flatly self-serving as DAP’s worth needs to be proven beyond the realm of motives or intentions.

Likewise the claim that DAP boasted our economic growth is even more fallacious.

“We leave the legal issues to lawyers, the moral intentions to priests, and the political flavor of it, for a while, to rival politicians.  Our main and immediate interest here is to know whether DAP money had gone in the same manner PDAF had been squandered,” stated PM chairperson Renato Magtubo.

Magtubo said the political context when DAP was concocted and eventually released has overly been discussed. “What we want to know now is whether a DAP released to a lawmaker’s left hand is better spent than a PDAF released to his/her right hand.”

The former partylist representative said a special audit for used and unused DAP funds may either clear many issues or uncover the same pattern of fraud committed under PDAF. Or may be worse.

“Assuming the crime was repeated, the political discussion should therefore lead to a conclusion that the whole system is terribly wrong,” said Magtubo.

The group believes that funds released under DAP and received by the same hands that made PDAF their personal piggy banks are tainted with corruption. Thus the need for a special audit, perhaps deeper and wider than the audit made on PDAF. 

At the height of the pork barrel scam PM had pushed for, as part of reforms in the budget system, the concept of a universal social protection fund with a clearly defined social purpose yet completely isolated from the hands of corrupt politicians.

Leyte groups: Engage people in Yolanda rehab

Press Release

January 10, 2014

Informal workers associations in Leyte are asking the government to engage with people’s organizations in the planning and implementation of the Yolanda rehabilitation in the face of allegations of overpriced and substandard bunkhouses.

“Aside from the opinions of experts, the participation of the people themselves is vital in the success of the Yolanda rehab plan. Yolanda survivors should not just be passive recipients of aid but active stakeholders in the reconstruction process. We demand transparency and people’s participation,” asserted Judy Torres, chair of the Tacloban City tricycle federation and coordinator of Partido ng Manggagawa in Region 8.

Last December 30, Torres’ group held a motorcade around Tacloban of a hundred tricycles which were garbed in tarp posters with the message “Make jobs a priority in Yolanda rehab.” The motorcade signalled the launch of the campaign for decent employment, social protection and people’s participation as pillars of Yolanda rehabilitation plan. A representative of the International Labor Organization (ILO) observed and documented the campaign launch.

Torres averred that “People’s organizations can also serve as watchdogs against graft and corruption in the rehab process. Even more than the problem of temporary shelter, the input of the people is crucial in the issue of permanent housing. We insist on in-city relocation and climate-resilient socialized housing program for informal settlers.”

Some of the controversial bunkhouses are being built near Torres’ home and he does not believe they can cost almost a million each. He also attests to the fact that the contractors are not locals and even the laborers came from Mindanao.

He added that “Every cent of the USD 8.17 billion Reconstruction Assistance of Yolanda must be spent to meet the immediate and long-term needs of survivors. We also ask that locals be employed as workers with decent jobs as a guideline.”

The Tacloban tricycle federation together with drivers associations in Hilongos and Baybay, Leyte have issued a manifesto calling for decent employment to be a priority in the rehab plan. The demand echoes an ILO report that stated that more need to be done to provide decent work in the Yolanda affected areas that includes ensuring minimum wages, sound occupational safety, skills development and social protection.

“Decent jobs are a necessity since it is a guarantee to a person’s long-term security and a life of dignity” Torres argued.

Policymakers to blame why poor people turn to saints for jobs, healthcare

PRESS RELEASE

09 January 2014

Policymakers are to blame why throngs of poor and sick people opt to seek deliverance from the Black Nazarene at Luneta and Quiapo Church rather than flock to hospitals for regular medical treatment, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said in a statement.

The group said that besides the yearly observance of this centuries-old tradition, the devotees’ main concerns for keeping the faith revolve around their plea to relieve them from serious illness and lift them out of poverty.

“Policymakers should look at this phenomenon in a more political rather than in purely religious sense. It’s failure of polices and governance. When poor people are afraid of hospitals because of high cost, their traditional option is to look for divine and non-discriminating sponsors in the likes of the Black Nazarene and other saints,” said PM.

The group pointed out that while faith and deliverance is a personal devotion to the Creator, quality healthcare, employment and other aspects of good life are the State’s social and moral obligation to its people.

Along this line PM chided lawmakers for making noise about their constituents having problems in availing the ‘pork’ they have realigned to different agencies. 

Earlier Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga complained against the lack of guidelines from government agencies on how former pork beneficiaries can have access to the services they previously enjoy.

“The problem is that lawmakers merely realigned their PDAF to line agencies without putting in place a universal system in delivering social services, creating in effect administrative gridlocks because politicized and discretionary parts of the budget remain,” said PM.

The group had pushed for the creation of a universal social protection fund in place of the pork barrel system during the height of the anti-pork barrel campaign last year, adding that the terms ‘pork scholars’ and ‘medical assistance’ should have been replaced now by ‘state scholars’ and ‘universal healthcare’. 

PM explained further that the United Nations (UN) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) have been pushing for ‘universalisation’ in place of the ‘targeting system’ in the provision of social services because it is administratively less costly, inclusive, and more empowering when they become legal entitlements based on people’s needs and not the ability to pay.

The group warned lawmakers not to exploit the frustrations of the masses to smuggle in a plan to reconstitute their PDAF.

Workers dare Napoles: Be “Mother of all whistleblowers”

Press Release

November 7, 2013

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) asked the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam, Janet Lim-Napoles, to “name names” and “tell all” as hundreds of workers picketed the Senate grounds in time for the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing today.

“Workers call on Napoles to turn a new page in her life. Instead of invoking her right to remain silent or repeating evasive answers, she should name names and tell all about the pork barrel scam. Napoles can still turn from being the “pork barrel queen’ to being the ‘mother of all whistleblowers,’” averred Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Several hundred members of workers groups under the labor unity coalition Nagkaisa assembled at the Film Center and then trooped to the Senate grounds to air their demands on the pork barrel issue. Nagkaisa, which includes PM and the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), are pushing for the abolition of the pork barrel and its reallocation to universal social protection such as health care, unemployment insurance and public employment.

“We are also calling for people’s participation in the budget process not just as watchdog but also as stakeholder. Workers in particular demand a ‘full employment budget,’ meaning government policies, programs and projects be focused on generating jobs for all Filipinos,” declared Fortaleza.

The workers picket at the Senate today is just the start of a series of activities to highlight Nagkaisa’s demands for the abolition of the pork barrel and the creation of a full employment budget. On November 23, hundreds of labor leaders from some 40 workers groups and institutions will assemble to affirm labor’s position on the pork barrel, job security, wage increase and power rates. The culmination is a big mobilization on November 30 in which call for the reallocation of the pork barrel to social services will be among the central demands.

Fortaleza announced that “Workers will celebrate in the streets the 150^th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio on November 30 in continuation of his historic struggle for national liberation and social emancipation.”

PNoy should now heed the demand of his “bosses” for pork abolition

Press Release

August 27, 2013

With the success of the Million People March, the militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on President Benigno Aquino III to accede to the demand for the abolition of the pork barrel. “It behooves PNoy to heed the resounding cry of his Bosses—Abolish not reform the pork barrel. Reform or renaming of the PDAF will not placate the anger of citizens outraged at the wanton theft of the people’s tax money,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Fortaleza also challenged the “million people marchers” to be ready for another massive protest should President Aquino continue to reject the demand for pork abolition. He also appealed to anti-pork protesters to push for an alternative fund distribution system in which social services will be as accessible as a right and not subject to the discretion of politicians.

“The anti-pork protest should develop into a movement for universal social protection and also converge with the anti-epal, anti-trapo and anti-dynasty advocacies of the last elections. Such is a roadmap towards lasting political change in our country,” Fortaleza insisted.

PM is advocating an “Apat na Dapat” set of demands to address the pork barrel scandal. First, the abolition of all forms of pork barrel, principally the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) and the special purpose funds. Second, the realignment of pork to fund universal social protection like Philhealth coverage, public employment, disaster relief and climate mitigation. Third, people’s participation in the budget process from identification of programs and projects to evaluation. And last, the passage of the Freedom of Information bill to enhance transparency and accountability in government spending.

The group said that the government budget for social services in less than the United Nations target of 6% of the gross domestic product. As an example, PM cited that realigning the proposed P25.2 billion PDAF in 2014 can pay for the annual Philhealth premiums of 14 million Filipinos, a third of the adult population. “The rest of the population can be covered by abolishing the PSF and other presidential pork, and then rechanneling for Philhealth. In this way, we can attain universal health insurance tomorrow,” Fortaleza claimed.

He explained that “Workers do not just want to curb corruption by abolishing the pork barrel. We also want to curtail patronage by removing the discretion of politicians in the delivery of social services. Public services must be accessible to all Filipinos as a right without the need to beg for the indulgence of politicians.”