Garment makers work at a clothes factory in Lapu-Lapu City in 2020. (File photo courtesy of the MEPZ Workers Alliance)
MANILA, Philippines— Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday warned of a possible mass exodus of Filipino workers as he deplored the measly pay of laborers in the country and the “very slow” actions of authorities to solve this problem.
“There will be a diaspora of Filipino workers. Maraming aalis ng bansa dahil hindi nila kaya ang mga sweldo na tinatanggap nila dito,” Zubiri said during a weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
(There will be a diaspora of Filipino workers. Many will leave the country because they cannot afford the wages they receive here.)
He said some Filipinos would even risk working in Sudan and other parts of Africa just to earn over $1,000 a month.
If only there were no visa restrictions, many Filipinos would have already left for work abroad, Zubiri added.
“So anong mangyayari sa atin? Ang mangyayari sa ‘tin, ang maiiwan sa ‘tin ay non-skilled workers,” the Senate leader said.
(So what will happen to us? What will happen to us is that only the non-skilled workers will be left behind.)
Zubiri made the remarks as he noted how Filipino workers continue to struggle to meet their daily needs, especially the minimum wage earners.
In the National Capital Regional (NCR), the P570 daily minimum wage translates to only $10 dollars a day.
This is the same rate some workers in other countries are getting for just an hour’s worth of work, the senator noted.
He said it is worse in the provinces where minimum wage is only about P300 a day or just about $7.
“Sa tingin po namin ay panahon na na gumalaw po tayo one-time, big-time para matulungan ang ating mga mangagawa,” Zubiri observed.
(We think that it’s time for us to move one time big time to help our workers)
Several measures seeking to raise the salary of workers are pending in Congress.
Among them is Zubiri’s proposal that would increase the workers’ daily pay in the private sector by P150.
READ: Zubiri seeks P150 daily pay hike for private sector workers
A legislated wage hike would not have been necessary if the Regional Wage Boards had promptly responded to the workers’ calls for a decent pay, the Senate leader lamented.
READ: Senate sees ‘graduated’ wage hike scheme as solution to blows to MSMEs — Zubiri
“Let’s face it, napakahina ng regional wage boards. Napakabagal ng galaw nila. At kung hindi lang umiiyak ating manggagawa at magra-rally sa iba’t ibang tanggapan ng regional wage boards, hindi po gumagalaw ang ating mga regional wage boards,” according to Zubiri.
(Let’s face it, the regional wage boards are very weak. They move very slowly. And if our workers didn’t cry and held demonstrations in different regional wage board offices, our regional wage boards would not move.)
“Tapos kung gumalaw naman ang kanilang increase P16, P15 kada araw. Ano pong makakain ng tao sa P15?” he asked.
(And if they do increase, it’s only by P16, P15 per day. What can a person buy with P15?)
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