"Workers in the informal economy contributed some P5.7 trillion – or about 33 percent of our Gross Domestic Product – in 2018."
Part One
I have written about the need for a law that protects the rights and welfare of workers in the informal economy (WIE) several times. The bill, Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy or MACWIE has been repeatedly filed during the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and the 18th Congresses. Presently, MACWIE has been filed in the House of Representatives (HOR) by Deputy Speaker Dan Fernandez, and in the Senate by Senators Sonny Angara, Grace Poe, and Joel Villanueva.
Indeed, the legislative mill is very slow on this bill that stands to benefit an estimated 25.7 million workers who, in 2018 contributed about P5.7 trillion or about 33 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Last May 6, celebrated here as the Day of Workers in the Informal Sectors, Rep. Fernandez delivered a privilege speech entitled, “Beyond COVID-19: Focusing on Workers in the Informal Economy.” Here, Fernandez explained how problems encountered in the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) could have been averted IF MACWIE had already been a law.
Because it was the first time that MACWIE’s importance has been tackled on the HOR floor, I am yielding my space to parts of Rep. Fernandez’ privilege speech. Here goes:
“…This unseen enemy, this virus, is threatening not only our health but our very lives. Because of this pandemic, economic activity has been almost at a standstill. We are facing a significant downturn in our economy.
Since the start of the lockdown, in Metro Manila alone, millions of workers are forced to stay home, and most businesses are ordered closed. Poor workers, especially the daily wage-earners, have not been earning, and businesses have been incurring massive losses. We can expect that after the lockdown, our people will not have the same buying capacity as before. Whatever little money they had would have been used for family needs.
Worse, a significant number of workers may lose their jobs because businesses will try to cut down their losses. This, likely is the immediate future we face after the pandemic.
As the world is racing against time to find a cure, and as our country works hard to cope and contain COVID-19, this is also the right time to make plans for recovery. We want our people to be able to resume their lives as soon as the circumstances get better. We cannot afford to be caught off-guard yet again. Dapat po, tayo ay productive at hindi lamang reactive. Kailangan nating tunay na matulungan ang ating bansa at mga kababayan upang makabangon sa lalong madaling panahon.
Today, Mr. Speaker, my dear colleagues, I also stand before you on behalf of the workers in the informal economy…
Sino po ba ang mga manggagawang ito?
Sila po yung mga manggagawang lagi nating nakikita pero hindi nabibigyan ng pansin.
Sila po yung mga drivers; market and street ambulant vendors, opo kasama si mamang magtataho; waste-pickers; garbage collectors; home-based workers; construction workers; small farmers and fisherfolk; and on-call care givers. In the film industry where I also belong, included are the bit players and extras; stunt men and women; make-up artists and other production crew and assistants. Not to be forgotten are the volunteers, contractual, and job orders in government instrumentalities such as our BHWs, barangay tanod, BNS, day-care workers and other vulnerable workers.
Mr. Speaker, colleagues, the numbers of workers in the informal economy in the country is huge – the April, 2018 data indicate that there are around 25.7 million workers. I repeat, 25.7 million workers make up the workers in the informal economy. They comprise almost 63% of all economically active Filipinos. The women workers in the informal economy are 56.4% of all economically active women.
They are among the poorest of the poor workers yet in the same year, they contributed around P5.7 trillion, or 33 percent of our country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)…Indeed, they are poor but they are productive.
Sadly, these workers are not protected by our labor laws. They are without benefits and social protection enjoyed by those formally employed. There are no labor standards that protect their rights, health, safety, and wellbeing while working. Our labor laws favor workers in formal employment setting, and mostly ignore those in the informal economy.
There is little government attention in terms of addressing their needs, honing their skills, and supporting their enterprises and livelihood activities. We in Congress need to correct this injustice..”
Fernandez continued, “…When COVID-19 broke and the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) started, our poor citizens were hit the worst. The threats they faced and continue to face are two-fold: COVID-19, and hunger because of loss of livelihood. Many of them are workers in the informal economy.
We saw them in news reports arguing with those implementing the ECQ in droves because, as they said, if they could not work, their families would go hungry. This scene was repeated many times and the government needed to act fast because people were getting hungry. We, in Congress did, by immediately passing the “Bayanihan to Heal as One” Act.
When this Representation saw the various problems in the implementation of the law, particularly related with the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), my bill MACWIE which as I said I filed several times, came to mind. I thought that if only we already have the law, some of the major problems in the SAP implementation could have been averted. Allow me to tell you why Mr. Speaker and colleagues.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), using 2015 census data, targeted 18 million families of workers in the informal economy as beneficiaries of SAP… It is now 2020 and the population has significantly grown. Using 2015 data is simply wrong. Targeting only 18 million is wrong. Kulang na kulang po.
Naturally, there have been many problems from identifying eligible beneficiaries to verifying their identities. These, and the complex process set by the DSWD resulted in a lot of our poor people getting angry. People are angry at the barangay officials and their Local Government Units. Sigurado po, kung tayo ang nasa kanilang kalagayan, kung nagugutom na ang ating pamilya at wala tayong magawang paraan ay magagalit din tayo.
In turn LGUs began complaining because of the small number of beneficiaries allocated to them by the DSWD. Mayors were saying that the numbers were very short of the actual number of families needing SAP assistance.”
(Concluded next week)
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