Laborers’ elusive dream

Can Filipino workers become financially stable? Aspiring to become rich through labor, no matter how hard, is unrealistic with our current economic conditions. This is the reality for the more than 50 million Filipino workers in the country. The best goal that they can probably achieve is to comfortably survive their present status and, through proper education and much luck, for their children to have better lives.

Now, for the laborers who mainly rely on their brute manual capacity, even the goal of simply becoming comfortable can be elusive. Around six million construction workers for example, can hardly afford to have their own homes though ironically, it’s them who built the houses that those in the higher brackets of our society purchase. The luxury that sprung from their collective efforts are not meant for their enjoyment. Sadly, they know this and probably have accepted it as a matter of fate.

These construction workers also will not have the funds to buy decent cars that would ply the roads and bridges that their tireless hands made. Perhaps, they are content to simply survive the day and constantly wish that the transportation fees will not increase along with the prices of basic commodities. The dreaded inflation is hardest felt by our workers who jostle their way endlessly amidst the bills, stresses and insecurities.

Dismal labor environment

This is the general situation too of more than 10 million workers in the retail and trading sector, almost three million in the food and accommodation services and more than four million in the manufacturing segment. Their daily wages will be between P470 to P650 or roughly P14,000 to almost P20,000 monthly. This is hardly enough for a family of four to six members. We know that. However, somehow, they are better off than the estimated 1.6 million unemployed and 2.6 million underemployed Filipinos.

On the other hand, the more than 11 million agricultural workers in the country earn less than P200 daily or less than P10,000 monthly. This pathetic plight of our farmers is worsened by the debt trap that’s common to all of them. As I always emphasize, being a farmer in the Philippines is synonymous to being poor, without access to decent housing or education that supposedly could liberate them from the proverbial poverty bondage. They are also usually deprived of dependable medical care and at times, even the chance to obtain clean water. Dignity, perhaps, is the only jewel left for them to leave to their children.

Annually, every May 1, the whole world pays tribute to labor. This is the day that highlights the importance of workers in the creation of wealth and in the economic cycle where the so-called needs and wants are provided for by those who toil in the factories, offices and fields. Socialism and communism have no monopoly on defining how labor can be exalted and given its rightful share. The world has already evolved from the divisive revolutionary struggle of the masses as espoused by the Marxist ideology and dogma.

We have to work within the dynamics of our liberal democracy and the limits of a struggling economy that has been left behind even by our neighbors who used to be inspired by our level of development. Gone were those times when we were ranked second to Japan in our region.

Focus on our strengths

We must fully develop our ability to attract and satisfy international visitors. The infrastructure must be provided to encourage a much bigger number of arrivals. Tourism will boost our economy. We have the magnificent destinations and warmth of a people. We can surpass the more than 35 million tourist arrivals of Thailand in 2024. Ours was less than six million in spite of our natural advantages. Tourism can bring the dollars, the jobs and the investments that will uplift the lives of millions of Filipinos.

Expand our manufacturing sector by ensuring the ease of doing business – from the efficient registration of corporations to simplified taxation and immunity from bureaucratic abuses. The energy sector must produce a stable and cheaper supply of electricity that can lower the cost of production. This will allow firms to be globally competitive.

Lastly, our agriculture must be modernized. No Filipino farmer must be poor. Technology must be accessible, irrigation must be a minimum success factor that shall be provided to the millions of farmlands across the country. The infrastructure that will link the farmgate to the market must be systematically built. Smuggling of agricultural products must end.

The best honor that Labor Day can give to our workers is the chance to improve their economic well-being and secure the future of their children. We need investments, quality jobs that pay higher wages and the conditions that provide wealth for all.

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Email: arielnepo.philstar.com