Labor Day, OFWs, Camille Villar’s pitch

They will march today – our tireless laborers – as they do every year, out on the streets under the scorching summer heat.

It is Labor Day, after all – a lamentation rather than a celebration – as they continue to be burdened by the same problems they have struggled with for decades: low pay, skyrocketing cost of living and labor migration.

It doesn’t get better.

The high cost of living in the country has worsened. Ask any minimum wage earner and true enough, making ends meet has become even more difficult now than it was years ago, no thanks to inflation.

While inflation has eased to 1.8 percent in March from the previous month’s 2.1 percent, prices of basic goods and commodities are still high for many of us – from vegetables to meat and poultry to fruits and rice. Transportation costs are also up with another P1.25-per-liter oil price hike this week.

Wage gap

The perennial problem has been the wage gap. IBON Foundation reports that in the NCR alone, the daily minimum wage rate is P645 while a family living wage for a family of five is P1,222, resulting in a wage gap of P577.

It is even worse outside Metro Manila. The farther it is from Metro Manila, the wider the gap.

No wonder every year on May 1, labor unions go out on the streets to protest instead of celebrating or enjoying the respite.

It’s also no surprise that labor migration continues, stronger now more than ever.

According to the International Labor Organization, there are 10 million Filipinos who live abroad and more than one million Filipinos leave the country each year to work overseas.

There are simply not enough gainful opportunities in the country.

Camille Villar’s agenda

Against this backdrop, senatorial candidate Camille Villar, the only daughter of tycoon Manny Villar, is pitching an OFW-focused platform, along with agriculture and MSME support.

In a recent chat with journalists, Camille said that if she makes it to the Senate, she wants to help overseas Filipinos.

Why overseas Filipino workers? The very first buyer of Camella Homes, 48 years ago, was an OFW. For Camille, it’s a full circle of sorts. It’s a way to give back, she said, to OFWs who continue to be a huge part of Camella’s markets.

Camella, founded by Manny Villar in 1977 and now with a nationwide portfolio of house-and-lot developments, was what catapulted the tycoon to success.

“Camella Homes is almost 50 years now, and more than 50 percent of our buyers are OFWs so we’ve had a long and deep relationship with OFWs,” Camille says.

She is familiar with the problems of OFWs – from difficulties in repatriation to the lack of livelihood opportunities back in the Philippines when they decide to return home, she says.

There was a time, Camille recalls, when she and her father were in Jordan. They met with OFWs staying at the Philippine embassy there because they couldn’t be repatriated yet. They needed to pay some fees.

On their own, the Villars have initiatives that help OFWs, including a hotline and an annual summit where they bring together OFWs and their families.

Thus, she says, if she makes it to the Senate, she wants to push for the implementation of laws that would support OFWs. One big problem is the lack of livelihood or jobs when OFWs return home.

There are already existing programs but the weak point is in the implementation.

“We have beautifully written laws. We really have a lot of laws in the Philippines. And actually, if you look at them, they address all the problems that we have but the problem is implementation,” she says.

Camille also wants to help create an environment that would generate jobs for Filipinos.

She wants to support sectors that are labor-intensive such as construction, etc.

Camille’s pitch sounds promising. Any help Filipinos, especially OFWs, can get is very much welcome.

Political dynasty

Survey results are mixed although recently, her rankings have shown significant improvements.

There are criticisms, she says, such as the political dynasty tag on the Villar family. But on this issue, Camille – who is no stranger to politics as the representative of the lone district of Las Piñas since 2019 – says that it is the voters who decide, just as they have elected the Villars to Philippine Congress for many years now.

More than the political dynasty issue, though, I think Camille’s bigger challenge is the complaints against her family’s water business, PrimeWater, which the company has vowed to address.

There are concerns from consumers especially those from San Jose del Monte, Bulacan but such complaints have been especially magnified even more now, because of the sweltering summer heat and the sizzling election-related political tensions.

But Camille, I’m sure, has expected such issues. Her family after all has been in big business and in politics for decades now.

Manny Villar, who is Camille’s campaign manager, later joined our chat. He says politics is different now. “Iba na ngayon.”

Perhaps he meant that in the past, politicians and statesmen competed against each other on issues and platforms. Now they have to compete with celebrities, too, including those who are popular but have no platform to discuss.

Going back to labor issues, I hope that Camille’s OFW pitch works and, more importantly, I hope that whoever wins in the elections will truly keep our laborers in mind.

One day in the future, hopefully, laborers will finally have reasons to toast Labor Day.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.