OLONGAPO CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo claims that growing investments in the industrial enclaves will provide employment and uplift workers’ conditions, but this is belied by union leaders.

The government said that the country’s special economic zones (SEZ) which form the core of the country’s development plan posted a 41.71% increase or P70.175 billion worth of investments for the first 11 months of 2005.

It cornered a big chunk of the productions of computers and cell phone parts and other of auxiliary products over the rest of the third world.

In Central Luzon , Taiwanese and Koreans are among the biggest investors registered with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in Olongapo, Zambales and Clark Development Corporation (CDC) in Pampanga.

“It matters little to us workers, if billions make it to the government’s coffers, or even if billions of dollars of investments flood our SEZs (because) workers’ wages remain low and their rights are suppressed,” Angie Ladera, chairperson of Workers Alliance of Region III (WAR III], regional chapter of the Kilusang Mayo Uno [May 1st Movement or KMU) said In an interview.

No chance for workers

Ladera says there is practically no chance for substantial wage increase for workers if the government sticks to its cheap and docile labor policy, and its no-union, no-strike policy in the enclaves.

Statistics released by the Labor Force Survey show that some 2.8 million Filipinos failed to find work in January 2006, up by 15% from 2.5 million in the same period last year.

The 95,000 decrease in jobs came from the industry sector, mostly from the manufacturing and construction sub-sector.

Latest National Statistics Office’s figures show 2.93 million Filipinos are unemployed while 8.4 million are underemployed.

These figures do not include those who have given up looking for jobs, housewives and other sectors considered by the government as not in the labor force.

“Sunshine” industries

But the President is sure of creating jobs by encouraging more investments in the country particularly on industrial enclaves such as the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and Subic Bay Free Port Economic Zones (SBFEZ) where many of what she boasts as significant foreign investments and “sunshine” industries are located.

The CDC website www.VisitClark.com listed 600 plus companies inside CSEZ. At least 32 firms are engaged in garment productions, about 66 are service-oriented companies.

Many others are restaurants, import-export outlets, hotels and other tourism related firms, companies engaged in auxiliary information technology and call centers.

The SBMA’s www.sbma.com as of August this year listed 674 firms at SBFEZ, 89 of which are into manufacturing light products such as garments and auxiliary products; 93 are tourism related facilities like hotels, restaurants and other recreations; 72 are into motor trading; 92 are duty free shops, trading and general merchandize, the rest are small to medium service oriented firms.

“Mrs. Arroyo generously pours resources to make these facilities more attractive to foreign investors.

But these are but service-oriented and consumer-led economic activities with no provision for genuine industry that can generate jobs for unemployed Filipinos.” Ladera surmised.

Basic needs

The daily minimum wage of P224.50 in Central Luzon , plus the P20 ECOLA (Subic Bay Apparel average) is but P244.50 and not enough to meet even the basic food needs of some P284 a day as calculated by independent think tank IBON Foundations for the first quarter of 2006.

The IBON’s Recent Price Monitor conducted in wet markets in many cities in the country including the City of San Fernando in Pampanga showed prices of basic goods have increased by at least 11% after the implementation of the reformed valued added tax or RVAT from December 2005 to March 2006.

The last legislated wage increase was in 1989, followed by the creation of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards which militant workers find very divisive of the labor ranks, created to negate any across the board wage increase.

President Arroyo has yet to make a similar step since she ascended to the Presidency in 2001.

Wage demand

Detained Representative Crispin Beltran and five other militant party-list representatives Rafael Mariano, Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casino, Liza Maza and Joel Virador pushed for the urgent passage of House Bill (HB) 0345 for a P125 across-the-board nationwide wage hike for workers in the private sector and HB 1064 for a P3,000 across-the-board salary increase for government workers.

“The HB 0345 made it to third reading at congress. But all efforts by well-meaning legislators ground to a halt right after Employers Confederation of the Philippines protested against it and lobbied in Malacañang.” Ladera said.

Ladera added the WAR III and the KMU had been campaigning for the P125 wage increase in the wake of increasing prices of basic commodities.

But the Arroyo government refuses to expedite it and the wage demand has been overtaken by the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities notwithstanding the much drummed-up strong performance of peso, she said.

IBON studies show the real value of wages has been further devalued.

The actual amount of goods and services P1.00 can buy has fallen to P0.74 in January 2006 from P0.79 in the same month last year.

These pushed the estimated daily cost of living for a family of six up 22% to P519.23 the first quarter of the year from P427.03 of first quarter of last year.

Poverty threshold

By government’s estimate 24.7% of the country’s families fell under its annual per capita poverty threshold of P12,267.

A rather ludicrous figure compared even to the Central Intelligence Agency’s 2001 estimate of the country’s poverty line at 40% published in their World Fact Book.

Using the international poverty threshold of $2 a day, over 87% of the country’s families are poor.

But the IMF-WB’ poverty line of $1 a day reduced the country’s poverty level to 10.8% of the country’s population, a mere juggling of figures with no meaning for impoverished workers, Ladera said.

The National Economic and Development Authority is optimistic that the unemployment rate would go down as more jobs would be created by the country’s “sunrise” industries, including call centers, tourism and the real estate industry.

IBON’s job scarcity estimates are significantly higher at 17 million workers or 40% of the labor force including migrant workers than government’s official figure of 2.7 million jobless Filipinos.

This is so because government data do not include figures on overseas Filipino workers who left the country to find work and visibly underemployed workers—not to mention productive sectors that have been discouraged to look for work, thus counted as ‘not in the labor force’.

Continuing workers’ repression

Roman Polintan, BAYAN-Central Luzon Chairperson said Mrs. Arroyo earmarked P725 billion for debt servicing and P52.4 billion for military expenditure from the trillion peso proposed budget for 2006 and passed non-wage economic relief steps for the workers which can be removed anytime and can’t be calculated with the workers’ benefits upon retirement.

“We expect no less as a move from Mrs. Arroyo whether the proposed budget for 2007 is approved or the old one is reenacted,” he added.

A KML leader said that on a Labor and Management Conference sponsored by the Management and Labor Center of SBMA on September 2004, held at the Building B of the former Ship Repair Facilities now its Labor Center, a certain Attorney Pastor acting as Chief of the SBMA Labor Center pronounced in no uncertain terms that Pres. Arroyo wants no strike and unionism on any of the country’s economic zones.

“It’s no wonder that workers are prevented from exercising their constitutionally mandated freedoms. This means escalating police and military intervention and brutality against legitimate protests and the picket lines, and intensified intelligence gathering and anti-worker campaigns at the factory level,” Ladera said.

The spate of political killings nationwide has so far claimed 31 labor leaders, trade union and urban poor organizers and advocates. In Central Luzon , five labor leaders were killed from January to April this year.

Go back to Part I: Litany of woes this holiday season for workers in CL special economic zones