Workers’ suffering, strength bared in pandemic writings

COVID CHRONICLES In the e-book project of the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development, ordinary wage earners have their turns as essayists, poets, fictionists and witnesses to history at a time when pain and coping ought to be chronicled while still at their rawest. The anthology features the works of 67 authors, putting together a mosaic of the Philippine pandemic experience from the labor sector’s point of view. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — In the essay “Hindi Pa Maaring Lumabas Ang Mga Luha” (No Time Yet for Tears), college professor Angela Pamaos recalls how a student asked to be excused from their online class so he could get a permit to bury his parents’ ashes.

It is perhaps the most heartbreaking story in “Kuwentong COVID/Kuwentong Trabaho,” the electronic book of stories on the lives of Filipino workers in the age of COVID-19 that the workplace safety nonprofit Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (Iohsad) launched via Facebook and Zoom on May 26.

The student explained, while Pamaos was checking attendance, that it was the only day he could go to City Hall because the workers were on skeleton crew due to the pandemic: “Iyong abo nila Mama at Papa. Iyong pagpapalibing po … Ngayong araw lang po kasi pwede, dahil may schedule raw po sila … dahil sa COVID.”

Pamaos writes that she had to pull herself together, offer her condolences, and tell the student to take all the time he needed as she held back her tears.

Another teacher, Diane Capulong, writes of how she dealt with postpartum angst in between dozens of webinars in preparation for the distance learning decreed by the Department of Education.

Capulong empathizes with Grade 7 students confused by the concepts of modular learning, and recalls their sadness at being told that they would not receive their graduation diplomas onstage.

Sheila Cerilla describes her difficulty with matching children’s faces with the names of adult strangers whose social media accounts the young ones had borrowed so they could attend online classes.

Cathlea de Guzman writes of her hurt at comments that teachers were not actually working because they had been spared face-to-face classes with their pupils.

Written mostly in Filipino, the ebook also offers stories of office workers, health professionals, and jeepney drivers and other blue-collar toilers beset by the pandemic.

Teo S. Marasigan, columnist of the website Pinoy Weekly, edited the anthology of 67 essays, testimonies, short stories, poems and other forms. Dino Brucelas, graphic designer and instructor at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde, designed the cover.

Ordinary voices

The Iohsad observed that while the stories of prominent people and those with access to social media platforms go viral, those of ordinary workers hardly enjoy the same level of attention. In many instances, workers’ voices are even ignored or twisted.

“It is also important that we hear about the stories of workers in various sectors. They are the ones hit hardest by the pandemic, especially in terms of health, livelihood and human rights,” Iohsad executive director Nadia de Leon said in Filipino in an email interview.

In his introduction, Marasigan quotes a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) dated Jan. 25, 2021, (www.ilo.org), saying that manpower hours lost to the pandemic in 2020 were equivalent to 225 million jobs worldwide, or more than four times the loss recorded during the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.

Per Marasigan, the ILO described the disruption in the global labor market as “historically unprecedented.” Data from advanced countries show that migrant workers employed there are most affected, with women more adversely affected than men, and the young experiencing more challenges than those older.

Overwhelmed

Expectedly, the world’s health sector is the most overwhelmed among industries, the ILO added.

Marasigan also presents figures from Ibon Foundation. He quotes Ibon executive director Sonny Africa, who noted in a report dated Dec. 30, 2020, that while unemployment in the Philippines was already highest in history before the pandemic, employment in 2020 was the lowest in four years.

In October 2020, Ibon said there were more than 5.8 million unemployed Filipinos and an additional 2 million were disheartened and decided to stop looking for work (“pinanghinaan ng loob”).

Marasigan quotes data from the Department of Labor and Employment that more than 500,000 overseas Filipino workers lost their jobs (“nawalan ng trabaho”) and were repatriated, and more than 600,000 were laid off (“natanggal sa trabaho”) because of the pandemic.

De Leon said the e-book contributors “present not only personal stories of suffering and strength, but [also] working people’s collective experiences and challenges—layoff, anxiety, lack of cash aid and social protection, poor working conditions, labor rights abuses brought about by the government’s inept COVID-19 response, and problems in the country’s economy.”

Tatay Elmer, etc.

Emily Barrey, a union officer in an electronics company based in Laguna, writes about how she was fired for letting four other women get on an all-seats-taken company shuttle.

It was late, Barrey writes, and there was no telling if the women would be safe while waiting for another vehicle, or whether one would arrive at all. Her judgment call was used as an excuse to fire her for violating physical distancing protocols.

PJ Dizon, an agricultural worker in Compostela Valley, narrates how health protocols caused much anxiety among his colleagues, especially after one company ordered a work stoppage when a union officer tested positive for the coronavirus.

It so happened that union and management were in the middle of collective bargaining talks when the stoppage was announced, he writes.

One of the e-book’s highlights is the first-person narration of Tatay Elmer Cordero, at 72 the oldest among the jeepney drivers arrested in Caloocan City in 2020, supposedly for violating physical distancing protocols.

He and the other “Piston 6” drivers were demanding that the government allow them to ply their routes.

Cordero talks about being angry at the government for being inconsiderate to the poor. He lashes at the decision to detain him along with “common criminals” while he was fighting for his livelihood.

While his wife questioned his insistence on expressing his views against the government, he maintained that it was necessary because authorities had been so unfair, he says.

But not all the stories in the e-book are sad.

Arnel Noval, resident faculty member of Cebu Technological University, writes in “COVID-19 Fake News” of his parents’ haste to repair their roof and cover all household items after learning of a supposed plan for a military chopper to spray pesticide from a height as a disease prevention measure.

Lawyer Dennis Sabado has a short story about a “Cabinet secretary” who likes boys and who uses a five-star hotel suite for sexual trysts. The official, described in such detail as to allude to a real person, harbors dreams of becoming a senator someday. The Iohsad said it was a work of fiction.

De Leon said ordinary workers must be encouraged to tell their stories because “nobody else can narrate their experiences better than themselves.”

“We realize that we cannot simply keep these stories in our laptop files, or make these part of social media posts which will be buried into oblivion by other posts. These stories need to be released to the public in a way that they can be retained and returned to, in a way that readers can savor every word and message,” she said.

Aid for moving forward

The Iohsad also noted that in consultations with workers, sharing their stories—whether oral or written—proved helpful.

“If we allow them the space and opportunity to say what they are going through, we hope that in some way this would also help them cope and move forward,” De Leon said.

The Iohsad said the book may be downloaded for free starting on May 31.

“We compiled the stories to help readers understand what workers are really going through. Also, we hope that by presenting these stories, people would be more supportive of their demands for adequate wages, protection, ‘ayuda’ and better working environments,” De Leon said, adding:

“We hope that by doing this, we help empower workers.”