BUTUAN CITY—Former ambassador, National Labor Relations Commission and now OFW-Family party-list Rep. Roy Seňeres said President Aquino ignored the plight of 15 million contractual workers who cannot find job security and the 12 million who are jobless and failed to pay tribute to overseas Filipino workers during his last State-of-the-Nation Address.
“As usual, President Aquino did not pay tribute to migrants who had been responsible for the uninterrupted growth of the economy by sending billions of dollar remittances despite the pain of leaving their homes,” he said.
Seneres said Aquino’s jobless rate of 6 percent comes from the National Census and Statistics Office, which is a government agency. “I believe the Social Weather Stations survey of 12 million jobless Filipinos is more accurate than what is painted by government agencies which are in reality, all lies to cover up their deficiencies and lackluster performance” Seneres said.
The President also failed to address the “contractualization” practice which is victimizing workers and their families.
“President Aquino failed to mention the workers laid off every five months by their employers. They are everywhere in giant and small shopping malls, restaurant chains, hardware, general merchandise stores in the provinces and yes, even, the government.”
“The Supreme Court has condemned contractualization as ‘deceitful agreement’ which enable employers to reap undeserved profits at the expense of his or her employees as in the case of Cielo vs. NLRC,” Seňeres added.