Ika-6 na Miting ng CNA/UMCB
Noong Setyembre 22, 2008 na Ginawa sa UP SOLAIR
Mula ika-2:00 Hanggang ika-5:00 ng Hapon
Matapos maideklara ng Bureau of Labor Relations-DOLE ang All UP Workers Union noong ika-14 ng Pebrero 2008 bilang panalo sa naganap na CE noong Oktubre 24, 2007 ay naganap ang ika-6 na negotiation meeting sa pagitan ng UP at All UP Workers Union kahapon ika-22 ng Setyembre sa UP SOLAIR. Si Vice-President Theodore Te (abogado ito) at Vice-President Arlene Samaniego (Doctor of Medicine) ang nanguna sa UP Panel, samantalang ang All UP Workers Union panel naman ay binubuo nina: Arnulfo Anoos ang ating kasalukuyang National President, Jossel Ebesate (National Executive Vice President), Benjamin Santos (President ng Manila Chapter), Francisca vera Cruz (Vice-Pres. ng Diliman Chapter) Fredie Sambrano (President ng Los Baños Chapter) Jesusa Besido (National Chairperson, Grievance and Negotiation Committee), Jonathan Beldia (Member, CNA Secretariat) at Clodualdo Cabrera (National Treasurer).
Sa panimula ay inihapag natin ang mga ilang isyu katulad ng update sa ating 10% dagdag sahod, pangalawang P5,000 incentive at pagpapaalala sa ground rules para sa negotiation, partikular na ang tagal ng negotiation (dapat kasi sa loob ng 4 na buwan ay tapos na ito), dahil nga sa lampas na ito sa 4 na buwan.
Sa isyu ng 10 %, ipinahayag ni VP Te na hiningan sila ng MOA ng DBM at ito naman ay naisubmit na nila sa DBM noon pang Agosto 26, 2008, subalit wala pang katugunan ang DBM hinggil dito. Sa usapin naman ng 2nd P 5,000 hiniling ng unyon na maibigay na ito sa Nobyembre 2008, bagay na sinabi naman ni VP Samaniego na pinag-uusapan na ito ng UP Admn at kasama na din ang malaking posibilidad na makakuha pa tayo ng 3rd rice subsidy ngayong taon.
Sa pag-uusap sa laman ng CNA, binalikan muna ang mga deklarasyon ng mga prinsipyo, sa puntong ito hinihiling natin na mapalitan ang katagang consultation ng involvement upang mas lalo tayong magkaroon ng direktang partisipasyon sa mga polisiya at patakaran na pinaiiral ng UP sa usapin ng may kinalaman sa ating trabaho, promosyon atpb., subalit matindi ang pagtanggi dito ng UP panel, maraming sinabing dahilan dito si VP Te, tulad ng wala daw ganitong probisyon sa ibang CNA, at kahit daw sa ruling ng Supreme Court sa kaso ng PAL, ay hindi pinayagan ng korte ang paglalagay ng salitang involvement, dahil ito daw ay para lamang sa management at ito daw ang pag-iiba natin sa management.
Bagama’t matindi ang kanilang pagtutol dito, hindi natin inatras ang ating laban na dapat mula sa consultation ay maitaas ang ating participation na tayo ay direktang maging kabahagi sa mga pagdedesisyon sa mga patakaran at polisiyang ipapairal ng UP na may kaugnayan sa ating pagiging empleyado, kasi kung titingnan natin kala mo ang ilan sa ating mga opisyal ay mga hari o naghahariharian dito sa UP. Dapat nating tandaan na tayo sa UP ay pare-pareho lamang na pinasusuweldo sa pera ng mamamayan at dapat ibalik ang paglilingkod sa mamamayan.
Ipinaliban na lang ng dalawang panig ang pagresolba sa isyung ito sa susunod na mga pagpupulong.
Subalit, kahit medyo matindi ang naging balitaktakan sa simula ng ika-6 Meeting ng CNA Negotiation, marami pa din naming napagka-isahan ang UP at All UP Workers Panel. Ito ang mga sumusunod:
1. 2 days nursing leave for nursing mothers (wala ito sa dating CNA natin)
2. 3 days additional job related sickness leave,non-cumulative at non-commutative – bagama’t ito’y nakapaloob na sa dating CNA natin, mas magiging maluwag ang implementasyon nito, sa dating probisyon kasi kailangan ng medical certificate na pinili ng dalawang panig, kaya halos bihira ang nakakapag-avail nito. Ngayon kailangan mo lamang mag-submit ng medical certificate kung 3 days consecutive mo itong gagamitin, pero kung dalawa o paisa-isa ang gamit hindi na kailangan na mag-attached ka ng medical certificate
3. Rice Subsidy - bukas sila na maging 3 ang ating rice subsidy na may halagang P1500.00 bawat isang sakong bigas, subalit ang proposal natin ay quarterly rice subsidy na minimum 50kg bawat sako ng bigas na mahusay ang kalidad.
4. Hazard Pay para sa mga hazardous ang trabaho – bukas silang tukuyin ang mga empleyadong hazardous talaga ang trabaho, kaya napagkasunduan na magbuo ng komite para dito.
5. Comprehensive Medical Insurance – bukas silang pag-usapan ito, kaya napagkasunduan na magbuo ng komite upang masusing pag-aralan ito at ibigay ang rekomendasyon kay Pangulong Roman.
Natapos ang Meeting dakong ika-5 ng hapon at itinakda ng dalawang panig ang susunod na CNA Negotiation (7th Meeting) sa ika-16 ng Oktubre 2008, ika-2:00 din ng hapon.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The U.S. Financial Crisis and the Philippines’ Economic Debacle
Having produced only disastrous results, economic management can no longer be left in the hands of an elite corps of bureaucrats and technocrats who ape lock, stock and barrel models purposely to make corporate profits bigger at the expense of workers, farmers, and other marginal sectors.
By the Policy Study, Publication and Advocacy
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 14 Series of 2008
September 29, 2008
The opposing views proliferating in the media on whether the U.S. financial meltdown will have an extensive impact on the Philippine economy are expected and time may help settle this debate. By zeroing on the element of “impact”, however, these divergent views – voiced largely by economic authorities, bankers, and financial analysts – only miss the truth about the country’s economic anchors, a core issue that is hardly touched every time a financial crisis in the U.S. happens. They forget that neo-liberalism, enforced in most parts of the world by U.S.-led global capitalism, has left billions of people more marginalized and their lives more miserable by the day.
The Philippine economy has been fettered by prolonged unequal ties with its former colonial master – the U.S. - and by being made an appendage to global capitalism. This imbalanced relationship takes its roots, among others, in post-war onerous impositions, one-sided trade agreements, bitter debt payment programs, and unilaterally-enforced credit arrangements.
At the heart of this historical imposition is the Philippine presidency and its economic generals who have perpetuated this unequal relationship for decades, keeping the Philippines always at the receiving end of global capitalism’s periodic crisis. The current U.S. financial crisis - a result of the unregulated speculative financial sector leading to a housing mortgage mess and credit crunch - should compel everyone to reject this inherently disastrous economic model and work toward an independent, people-oriented economic policy.
“Dark age”
To begin with, the Arroyo government is lying through its teeth when it assures the business community not to fear as the country will ride out America’s financial meltdown even if this has all the makings of a second Great Depression or what European groups call a modern “dark age.” However, as early as January this year, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresaw the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia – and other developing regions - as bearing the brunt of the global impact from a major economic slowdown in the U.S. The recession, the Fund said, will trigger a stiffer export competition from China at the expense of the Philippines and other export-driven countries in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Making a similar forecast, the economic intelligence center Euromonitor projected that the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia heavily dependent on exports to the U.S. will be hit by the economic slowdown as the export demand by the world’s biggest economy declines.
Indeed, the U.S. remains a major destination for Philippine exports. About 20 percent of the country’s exports go directly to the U.S. Another 50 percent of the exports go to Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia but these are actually components assembled into products that end up in the U.S. market. All these mean that cuts on the U.S. export demand could be potentially devastating to 70 percent of the country’s exports.
Aside from export manufacturing, highly dependent on the U.S. market are the information technology-enabled industry and the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. In 2005 these accounted for 90 percent of BPO export revenues and over two-thirds of foreign equity.
At the receiving end
Each time the U.S. economy tumbles, the Philippines and the rest of the world are bumped aside. Being in the clutches of the U.S. economic hegemony since colonial times, however, the Philippines is at the receiving end of the crisis of capitalism that America passes on to small, developing countries and emerging economies.
To recall, America bought the Philippines from Spain at the end of the 19th century in the period of U.S. capitalist expansion and its conquests for market, cheap labor, and raw materials in Asia Pacific. A strong lobby mounted by U.S. producers against Philippine exports during the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the transition that ended with the granting of independence.
But the grant of independence in 1946 was conditioned upon onerous agreements that tied the Philippines to a “free trade” allowing the unrestricted entry of U.S. exports with parity rights for American citizens to exploit the country’s natural wealth, and own properties and strategic industries. Emerging from the war in control of more than half of the global wealth and awash with trade surpluses, America had to keep the Philippines and other countries in its grip where it could dump its excess commodities, exploit their cheap raw materials, expand finance capital operations, and extend a new-found military hegemony. Accordingly, national security doctrines during the period emphasized the importance of maintaining a pro-U.S. government in the Philippines that would guarantee America’s over-arching economic and military objectives.
Over the next 60 years, the Philippines’ economic dependence on the U.S. gave birth to treaties and policies allowing the entrenchment of U.S. strategic enterprises and investments, the export of raw commodities, heavy reliance on foreign investments, and the elimination of protectionism. This neo-colonial structure maintained the system of landlordism and a bourgeoisie that depended on the plunder of natural resources and export of cheap raw commodities. As a result, the local economy became lethargic and generally backward, unable to shield itself from the rise and fall of an increasingly globalized economy where modern agriculture, a strong industrial base, and protective barriers are the keys to survival.
Bitter prescriptions
Imbalanced trade, a weak manufacturing base, and heavy borrowings further resulted in the accumulation of foreign debt that made successive and corrupt administrations accommodating to bitter economic pills prescribed by the IMF and World Bank. Under the regime of the structural adjustment program (SAP), up to 50 percent of the national budget went to automatic debt servicing, regressive taxes were increased while social services were reduced, and strategic public corporations went to private hands many of them TNCs.
The government’s commitment to globalization and World Trade Organization (WTO) led to the deregulation of the oil industry. Import liberalization displaced the country’s small producers while tens of thousands of workers lost their regular jobs due to labor-only contract system.
These economic policies took shape in the midst of the periodic crisis of contemporary capitalism battering the U.S. and other capitalist countries. Holding neo-liberalism with a sacred aura, the country’s economic strategists laughed off criticisms from progressive groups that this “new” capitalist paradigm was designed to bring relief to the leading capitalist economies at the expense of the Philippines along with other emerging economies.
Champions of neo-liberal globalization have shown no empirical evidence to support their claim of “equal playing field” and economic growth. On the contrary, neo-liberalism has lost its appeal as it has only widened the gap between rich and poor the world over. Today, nearly three billion people - half the world's population - are living on less than two dollars a day. Conversely, the richest 2 percent of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth.
Poverty and unemployment
Here at home, claims of economic growth based on GDP cannot hide the unprecedented increase in the number of poor Filipinos by three million (2003-2006), with the total conservative number of poor now 27 million. Current increases in the prices of oil and food products aggravated by the adverse impact of the U.S. meltdown will likely increase the number of poor several times in the coming years. Meantime, about 4.1 million people are jobless with the country facing a 10.8 percent underemployment record in 2007. At least 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday in search of jobs abroad. There are other grim statistics about the Philippines human development rating that will make it hard to see any positive signs of success attributed to government’s neo-liberal policies.
The management of the country’s economy is a serious responsibility that should be grounded on the people’s rights and well-being, above all else. Having produced only disastrous results, economic management can no longer be left in the hands of an elite corps of bureaucrats and technocrats who ape lock, stock and barrel models purposely to make corporate profits bigger at the expense of workers, farmers, and other marginal sectors.
Clearly, the most recent financial crisis in the U.S. has dealt a mortal blow to the failed but deadly practices of neo-liberalism the world over and undoubtedly lays the groundwork for the crafting of alternative policies more responsive to the needs of the powerless and marginalized in our societies. We can start right here in our country by working for the end of the destructive and rapacious rule by the elite and building people-centered democratic governance.
By the Policy Study, Publication and Advocacy
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 14 Series of 2008
September 29, 2008
The opposing views proliferating in the media on whether the U.S. financial meltdown will have an extensive impact on the Philippine economy are expected and time may help settle this debate. By zeroing on the element of “impact”, however, these divergent views – voiced largely by economic authorities, bankers, and financial analysts – only miss the truth about the country’s economic anchors, a core issue that is hardly touched every time a financial crisis in the U.S. happens. They forget that neo-liberalism, enforced in most parts of the world by U.S.-led global capitalism, has left billions of people more marginalized and their lives more miserable by the day.
The Philippine economy has been fettered by prolonged unequal ties with its former colonial master – the U.S. - and by being made an appendage to global capitalism. This imbalanced relationship takes its roots, among others, in post-war onerous impositions, one-sided trade agreements, bitter debt payment programs, and unilaterally-enforced credit arrangements.
At the heart of this historical imposition is the Philippine presidency and its economic generals who have perpetuated this unequal relationship for decades, keeping the Philippines always at the receiving end of global capitalism’s periodic crisis. The current U.S. financial crisis - a result of the unregulated speculative financial sector leading to a housing mortgage mess and credit crunch - should compel everyone to reject this inherently disastrous economic model and work toward an independent, people-oriented economic policy.
“Dark age”
To begin with, the Arroyo government is lying through its teeth when it assures the business community not to fear as the country will ride out America’s financial meltdown even if this has all the makings of a second Great Depression or what European groups call a modern “dark age.” However, as early as January this year, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresaw the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia – and other developing regions - as bearing the brunt of the global impact from a major economic slowdown in the U.S. The recession, the Fund said, will trigger a stiffer export competition from China at the expense of the Philippines and other export-driven countries in the region such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Making a similar forecast, the economic intelligence center Euromonitor projected that the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia heavily dependent on exports to the U.S. will be hit by the economic slowdown as the export demand by the world’s biggest economy declines.
Indeed, the U.S. remains a major destination for Philippine exports. About 20 percent of the country’s exports go directly to the U.S. Another 50 percent of the exports go to Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia but these are actually components assembled into products that end up in the U.S. market. All these mean that cuts on the U.S. export demand could be potentially devastating to 70 percent of the country’s exports.
Aside from export manufacturing, highly dependent on the U.S. market are the information technology-enabled industry and the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. In 2005 these accounted for 90 percent of BPO export revenues and over two-thirds of foreign equity.
At the receiving end
Each time the U.S. economy tumbles, the Philippines and the rest of the world are bumped aside. Being in the clutches of the U.S. economic hegemony since colonial times, however, the Philippines is at the receiving end of the crisis of capitalism that America passes on to small, developing countries and emerging economies.
To recall, America bought the Philippines from Spain at the end of the 19th century in the period of U.S. capitalist expansion and its conquests for market, cheap labor, and raw materials in Asia Pacific. A strong lobby mounted by U.S. producers against Philippine exports during the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the transition that ended with the granting of independence.
But the grant of independence in 1946 was conditioned upon onerous agreements that tied the Philippines to a “free trade” allowing the unrestricted entry of U.S. exports with parity rights for American citizens to exploit the country’s natural wealth, and own properties and strategic industries. Emerging from the war in control of more than half of the global wealth and awash with trade surpluses, America had to keep the Philippines and other countries in its grip where it could dump its excess commodities, exploit their cheap raw materials, expand finance capital operations, and extend a new-found military hegemony. Accordingly, national security doctrines during the period emphasized the importance of maintaining a pro-U.S. government in the Philippines that would guarantee America’s over-arching economic and military objectives.
Over the next 60 years, the Philippines’ economic dependence on the U.S. gave birth to treaties and policies allowing the entrenchment of U.S. strategic enterprises and investments, the export of raw commodities, heavy reliance on foreign investments, and the elimination of protectionism. This neo-colonial structure maintained the system of landlordism and a bourgeoisie that depended on the plunder of natural resources and export of cheap raw commodities. As a result, the local economy became lethargic and generally backward, unable to shield itself from the rise and fall of an increasingly globalized economy where modern agriculture, a strong industrial base, and protective barriers are the keys to survival.
Bitter prescriptions
Imbalanced trade, a weak manufacturing base, and heavy borrowings further resulted in the accumulation of foreign debt that made successive and corrupt administrations accommodating to bitter economic pills prescribed by the IMF and World Bank. Under the regime of the structural adjustment program (SAP), up to 50 percent of the national budget went to automatic debt servicing, regressive taxes were increased while social services were reduced, and strategic public corporations went to private hands many of them TNCs.
The government’s commitment to globalization and World Trade Organization (WTO) led to the deregulation of the oil industry. Import liberalization displaced the country’s small producers while tens of thousands of workers lost their regular jobs due to labor-only contract system.
These economic policies took shape in the midst of the periodic crisis of contemporary capitalism battering the U.S. and other capitalist countries. Holding neo-liberalism with a sacred aura, the country’s economic strategists laughed off criticisms from progressive groups that this “new” capitalist paradigm was designed to bring relief to the leading capitalist economies at the expense of the Philippines along with other emerging economies.
Champions of neo-liberal globalization have shown no empirical evidence to support their claim of “equal playing field” and economic growth. On the contrary, neo-liberalism has lost its appeal as it has only widened the gap between rich and poor the world over. Today, nearly three billion people - half the world's population - are living on less than two dollars a day. Conversely, the richest 2 percent of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth.
Poverty and unemployment
Here at home, claims of economic growth based on GDP cannot hide the unprecedented increase in the number of poor Filipinos by three million (2003-2006), with the total conservative number of poor now 27 million. Current increases in the prices of oil and food products aggravated by the adverse impact of the U.S. meltdown will likely increase the number of poor several times in the coming years. Meantime, about 4.1 million people are jobless with the country facing a 10.8 percent underemployment record in 2007. At least 3,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday in search of jobs abroad. There are other grim statistics about the Philippines human development rating that will make it hard to see any positive signs of success attributed to government’s neo-liberal policies.
The management of the country’s economy is a serious responsibility that should be grounded on the people’s rights and well-being, above all else. Having produced only disastrous results, economic management can no longer be left in the hands of an elite corps of bureaucrats and technocrats who ape lock, stock and barrel models purposely to make corporate profits bigger at the expense of workers, farmers, and other marginal sectors.
Clearly, the most recent financial crisis in the U.S. has dealt a mortal blow to the failed but deadly practices of neo-liberalism the world over and undoubtedly lays the groundwork for the crafting of alternative policies more responsive to the needs of the powerless and marginalized in our societies. We can start right here in our country by working for the end of the destructive and rapacious rule by the elite and building people-centered democratic governance.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Update sa Naganap na Pagkilos Kahapon sa Quezon Hall
Kahapon, Setyembre 15, 2008, 1:30 ng hapon kasabay ng meeting ng President’s Advisory Council ay nagkaroon tayo ng pagkilos upang igiit na maibigay na ang ating 10% salary increase. Ito ay dinaluhan ng halos 200 empleyado at nagkaroon ng isang maikling programa. Sa pagkilos na ito ay nagsalita si Pang. Roman, inilahad niya ang mga ginawa/ginagawang hakbang ng UP Administration para maibigay na ang ating 10%
tulad ng pagsulat, pakikipag-usap sa mga opisyal ng DBM, pag submit ng mga report na hinihingi ng DBM, subalit sa dulo ay hindi pa din siya nagbigay ng katiyakang maibibigay na talaga sa atin ito, sinabi din niyang ayos lang naman ang ginagawa nating mga pagkilos dahil nakakatulong ito sa ating hinihinging 10% salary increase.
Dahil nga sa wala pa ding katiyakan kung ito ay maibibigay, ngayong Oktubre ay nagpaplano tayo ng isang pagkilos papunta ng DBM Malacanang, pero siyempre patuloy ang ginagawa nating mga local na pagkilos upang patuloy din ang pressure sa Administrasyong Roman at ang gusto nga natin ay dapat sumama din sila (ang UP officials). Mungkahing ang mga chapter sa mga awtonomus campus ay maglunsad din ng pagkilos , kasabay ng isasagawang pagkilos mula sa Diliman (pinag-uusapan pa ang petsa ng pagtungo sa DBM) patungong DBM Malacanang.
tulad ng pagsulat, pakikipag-usap sa mga opisyal ng DBM, pag submit ng mga report na hinihingi ng DBM, subalit sa dulo ay hindi pa din siya nagbigay ng katiyakang maibibigay na talaga sa atin ito, sinabi din niyang ayos lang naman ang ginagawa nating mga pagkilos dahil nakakatulong ito sa ating hinihinging 10% salary increase.
Dahil nga sa wala pa ding katiyakan kung ito ay maibibigay, ngayong Oktubre ay nagpaplano tayo ng isang pagkilos papunta ng DBM Malacanang, pero siyempre patuloy ang ginagawa nating mga local na pagkilos upang patuloy din ang pressure sa Administrasyong Roman at ang gusto nga natin ay dapat sumama din sila (ang UP officials). Mungkahing ang mga chapter sa mga awtonomus campus ay maglunsad din ng pagkilos , kasabay ng isasagawang pagkilos mula sa Diliman (pinag-uusapan pa ang petsa ng pagtungo sa DBM) patungong DBM Malacanang.
UP Faculty, Workers Protest Wage Hike Delay
MANILA, Philippines – Around 200 faculty members and nonacademic workers of the University of the Philippines (UP) Monday marched to its main campus in Diliman, Quezon City, Monday to protest the two-month delay in the release of their 10-percent salary increase.
Bearing placards containing their demands, members of the All UP Workers Alliance held a program at the lobby of the Quezon Hall shortly before the scheduled meeting of senior university officials around 3 p.m.
The protesters assailed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for its alleged arbitrariness in holding funds for the increase.
Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, national vice president for faculty of the All UP Academic Employees Union, said they could not understand why DBM Secretary Rolando Andaya has yet to act on several requests made regarding the wage increase.
Citing an executive order issued by President Macapagal-Arroyo on May 1, Taguiwalo argued that all government workers, including UP personnel, should have received the increase effective July 1. “We see no logical reason why the DBM should keep what is rightfully due us,” Taguiwalo told the Inquirer.
“It’s been two months now since they delayed our salary hike. With the worsening inflation rate, the 10 percent additional salary could hardly help us keep up with the rising costs of goods and services,” she added.
UP President Emerlinda Roman earlier told Taguiwalo’s group in a letter that the DBM declined to approve the budget for the wage hike because UP was no longer included in the government Salary Standardization Law when the university’s new charter was signed last April.
Roman briefly spoke Monday with the protesters on her way to the meeting of the UP President’s Advisory Council.
She said she was optimistic that the DBM would soon approve the funds after the agency asked for documents and the draft of an agreement between the university and DBM.
Roman said she found it strange that while the national government regarded UP as the top university in the country, “our employees have the lowest salary among government workers. I think that’s inconsistent.”
“I assure you that we’re doing what is needed to give you the best of both worlds,” she told the protesters, apparently referring to their efforts to get the nod of the DBM while studying ways to improve other benefits for UP personnel.
Taguiwalo, however, said they were not contented with Roman’s speech.
She then challenged the UP executive to join them in a prayer rally to press Andaya to hasten the release of the funds.
“President Roman told the union that all we can do now is pray. If she’s really with us, then she should lead us in a prayer rally in front of the DBM office,” Taguiwalo said.
By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:29:00 09/15/2008
Bearing placards containing their demands, members of the All UP Workers Alliance held a program at the lobby of the Quezon Hall shortly before the scheduled meeting of senior university officials around 3 p.m.
The protesters assailed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for its alleged arbitrariness in holding funds for the increase.
Dr. Judy Taguiwalo, national vice president for faculty of the All UP Academic Employees Union, said they could not understand why DBM Secretary Rolando Andaya has yet to act on several requests made regarding the wage increase.
Citing an executive order issued by President Macapagal-Arroyo on May 1, Taguiwalo argued that all government workers, including UP personnel, should have received the increase effective July 1. “We see no logical reason why the DBM should keep what is rightfully due us,” Taguiwalo told the Inquirer.
“It’s been two months now since they delayed our salary hike. With the worsening inflation rate, the 10 percent additional salary could hardly help us keep up with the rising costs of goods and services,” she added.
UP President Emerlinda Roman earlier told Taguiwalo’s group in a letter that the DBM declined to approve the budget for the wage hike because UP was no longer included in the government Salary Standardization Law when the university’s new charter was signed last April.
Roman briefly spoke Monday with the protesters on her way to the meeting of the UP President’s Advisory Council.
She said she was optimistic that the DBM would soon approve the funds after the agency asked for documents and the draft of an agreement between the university and DBM.
Roman said she found it strange that while the national government regarded UP as the top university in the country, “our employees have the lowest salary among government workers. I think that’s inconsistent.”
“I assure you that we’re doing what is needed to give you the best of both worlds,” she told the protesters, apparently referring to their efforts to get the nod of the DBM while studying ways to improve other benefits for UP personnel.
Taguiwalo, however, said they were not contented with Roman’s speech.
She then challenged the UP executive to join them in a prayer rally to press Andaya to hasten the release of the funds.
“President Roman told the union that all we can do now is pray. If she’s really with us, then she should lead us in a prayer rally in front of the DBM office,” Taguiwalo said.
By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:29:00 09/15/2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Ating hamon sa Administrasyong Roman: Pangunahan ang “Prayer Rally” sa DBM para igiit ang ating 10% Salary Increase
Setyembre na. Dalawang buwan nang natanggap ng mga kapwa natin kawani sa pamahalaan ang 10% salary increase. UP na lang ang wala pa.
Samantala, kung ang inflation rate noong Hulyo ay 12.3%, at nitong Agosto ay umakyat pa ito sa 12.6%, ibig sabihin lalong bumaba ang halaga ng inaantay na 10% salary increase sa pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin at mga serbisyo!!!
Bakit iniipit ng Malacañang at ni Andaya ang ating salary increase?
Hindi natin maiintindihan kung ano talaga ang dahilan kung bakit patuloy na iniipit ng DBM sa pamumuno ni Rolando Andaya ang ating 10% salary increase. Utos ba ito ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na siyang kagyat na pinuno ni Andaya?
Kung ang dinadahilan ay ang probisyon sa bagong UP Charter na may kapangyarihan ang UP Board of Regents na magtakda ng bagong compensation scheme para sa mga empleyado ng UP, may ganito ring probisyon ang 1991 Charter ng Philippine Normal University.
Ang 1991 PNU Charter (R.A. 7168) ay may ganitong probisyon kaugnay ng kapangyarihan ng Board of Regents: "Section 7, h: To fix and adjust salaries of faculty members and administrative officials and employees." Pero ang mga faculty at kawani ng PNU ay nakatanggap na ng 10% salary increase dahil hindi naman sila nagkaroon ng hiwalay na salary scale labas sa SSL mula pa nang ipinasa ang kanilang Charter noong 1991. E ganito rin naman sa UP a. Wala naman tayong bagong salary scale; wala namang pagbabago sa ating sweldo mula nang naipasa ang RA 9500 o 2008 UP Charter.
Nitong nakaraang linggo lamang, ipinagmalaki ni Andaya na may panukala ang DBM na itaas ng 100% ang sweldo ng mga kawani at mga opisyal ng pamahalaan sa kanyang paghapag ng 2009 budget. E bakit, 10% salary increase man lang namin dito sa UP para ngayong 2008 ay ayaw niyo pa ibigay?
Ating panawagan sa Administrasyong Roman: Pangunahan ang “Prayer Rally” sa DBM para igiit ang ating 10% Salary Increase!
Sa pinakahuling dayalogo ni Pangulong Roman sa mga guro at kawani ng UP sa UP Baguio noong Agosto 30, 2008, sinabi niyang halos araw-araw nilang tinatawagan ang DBM tungkol sa ating salary increase at hininging “magdasal” tayo para mapabilis ito. Marami sa ating mga kawani at ang kanilang mga pamilya ay isinasama sa kanilang mga dasal na maibigay na nga itong 10% salary increase. Pero hindi nakasasapat na umasa na lang tayo sa “Divine Intervention” para sa ganitong problema.
Sa tagal na ng panahong pakikisuyo at pakikipag-usap ng Administrasyong Roman sa mga nasa poder sa DBM at Malacañang ay nanatili silang bingi.
Hinahamon natin si Presidente Roman at mga opisyal ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas na pangunahan ang isang ”prayer rally” sa harap ng opisina ng DBM, malapit sa Malacañang, para igiit ang matagal nang nabimbing 10% salary increase. Baka sa ganitong paraan lamang diringgin ng nagaastang mga bathala sa Malacañang ang dasal na ibigay na ang ating 10% salary increase.
Samantala, kung ang inflation rate noong Hulyo ay 12.3%, at nitong Agosto ay umakyat pa ito sa 12.6%, ibig sabihin lalong bumaba ang halaga ng inaantay na 10% salary increase sa pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin at mga serbisyo!!!
Bakit iniipit ng Malacañang at ni Andaya ang ating salary increase?
Hindi natin maiintindihan kung ano talaga ang dahilan kung bakit patuloy na iniipit ng DBM sa pamumuno ni Rolando Andaya ang ating 10% salary increase. Utos ba ito ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na siyang kagyat na pinuno ni Andaya?
Kung ang dinadahilan ay ang probisyon sa bagong UP Charter na may kapangyarihan ang UP Board of Regents na magtakda ng bagong compensation scheme para sa mga empleyado ng UP, may ganito ring probisyon ang 1991 Charter ng Philippine Normal University.
Ang 1991 PNU Charter (R.A. 7168) ay may ganitong probisyon kaugnay ng kapangyarihan ng Board of Regents: "Section 7, h: To fix and adjust salaries of faculty members and administrative officials and employees." Pero ang mga faculty at kawani ng PNU ay nakatanggap na ng 10% salary increase dahil hindi naman sila nagkaroon ng hiwalay na salary scale labas sa SSL mula pa nang ipinasa ang kanilang Charter noong 1991. E ganito rin naman sa UP a. Wala naman tayong bagong salary scale; wala namang pagbabago sa ating sweldo mula nang naipasa ang RA 9500 o 2008 UP Charter.
Nitong nakaraang linggo lamang, ipinagmalaki ni Andaya na may panukala ang DBM na itaas ng 100% ang sweldo ng mga kawani at mga opisyal ng pamahalaan sa kanyang paghapag ng 2009 budget. E bakit, 10% salary increase man lang namin dito sa UP para ngayong 2008 ay ayaw niyo pa ibigay?
Ating panawagan sa Administrasyong Roman: Pangunahan ang “Prayer Rally” sa DBM para igiit ang ating 10% Salary Increase!
Sa pinakahuling dayalogo ni Pangulong Roman sa mga guro at kawani ng UP sa UP Baguio noong Agosto 30, 2008, sinabi niyang halos araw-araw nilang tinatawagan ang DBM tungkol sa ating salary increase at hininging “magdasal” tayo para mapabilis ito. Marami sa ating mga kawani at ang kanilang mga pamilya ay isinasama sa kanilang mga dasal na maibigay na nga itong 10% salary increase. Pero hindi nakasasapat na umasa na lang tayo sa “Divine Intervention” para sa ganitong problema.
Sa tagal na ng panahong pakikisuyo at pakikipag-usap ng Administrasyong Roman sa mga nasa poder sa DBM at Malacañang ay nanatili silang bingi.
Hinahamon natin si Presidente Roman at mga opisyal ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas na pangunahan ang isang ”prayer rally” sa harap ng opisina ng DBM, malapit sa Malacañang, para igiit ang matagal nang nabimbing 10% salary increase. Baka sa ganitong paraan lamang diringgin ng nagaastang mga bathala sa Malacañang ang dasal na ibigay na ang ating 10% salary increase.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Employees of Biggest State Hospital Pickets Over Non-Payment of Salary Increase
More than a hundred employees of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) picketed in front of the hospital main lobby today at around 12:00 - 1:00 PM to dramatize their discontent over the continued non-payment of the 10% salary increase being trumpeted by the National Government since last year but was only given to almost all government agencies starting July 2008. Said salary increase was mandated under the 2008 National Budget but was enacted by Congress only on February 2008.
According to officials of the University of the Philippines (the mother unit of PGH) led by President Emerlinda Roman, they could not give the increase because the Department of Budget and Management have not yet released the money for the said increase, justifying that the University is no longer covered by Salary Standardization Law under its new charter (RA 9500).
However, Mr. Benjamin Santos, Manila Chapter President of the All U.P. Workers Union, the group that leads the picket contend that: "No matter how you would read and interprete the new university charter, there's nothing in the law that disenfranchise the university employees from the 10% salary increase to all national government employees. As a matter of fact, the law even mandates that all the requirements of the university for this year and the years to come, shall be included in the national budget."
The employees promised that should their call for the implementation of the 10% salary increase starting July 2008 as mandated by law remained unheeded, they will bring the matter up to the doorsteps of Malacanang (the Official Residence of the President of the Republic).
According to officials of the University of the Philippines (the mother unit of PGH) led by President Emerlinda Roman, they could not give the increase because the Department of Budget and Management have not yet released the money for the said increase, justifying that the University is no longer covered by Salary Standardization Law under its new charter (RA 9500).
However, Mr. Benjamin Santos, Manila Chapter President of the All U.P. Workers Union, the group that leads the picket contend that: "No matter how you would read and interprete the new university charter, there's nothing in the law that disenfranchise the university employees from the 10% salary increase to all national government employees. As a matter of fact, the law even mandates that all the requirements of the university for this year and the years to come, shall be included in the national budget."
The employees promised that should their call for the implementation of the 10% salary increase starting July 2008 as mandated by law remained unheeded, they will bring the matter up to the doorsteps of Malacanang (the Official Residence of the President of the Republic).
Monday, August 18, 2008
A Shortage amid the Glut in Nursing Graduates
The Philippines has an oversupply of nursing graduates especially with the visa retrogression in the US. But ironically, many government hospitals lack nurses and other health professionals. With low pay and poor working conditions in government hospitals, nursing graduates opt to work abroad even as volunteers with no pay and allowance.
BY RITCHE T. SALGADO
Contributed to Bulatlat
Volume VIII, Number 28, August 17-23, 2008
Jay-R Manzano, 21, is all set for his review. He made sure to wake up early so that he could still go through his notes and not forget the discussion his class had the day before.
Jay-R and his friends, sisters Grethel Ann and Gretchen Mae Tubo, are reviewing for the licensure examination for nurses come late November. Like most of their friends and classmates, they have started their preparation early, the usual being a month before the scheduled exam. They have enrolled at a commercial review center, but by late October they will be undergoing a more intensive review in their school, the University of Cebu.
Despite the effort that they are making, they have already accepted the fact that they may not be able to get their dream job as nurses in the United States of America as soon as they hoped. But they are willing to work as volunteers abroad or even in private hospitals here, with no pay and no allowance.
“Just so we will gain the experience that we will need once the US will start accepting Filipino nurses again,” said Jay-R.
“We know that right now the US is not accepting Filipino nurses because of the (visa) retrogression, but then I am still optimistic that after the elections (in the US) this little obstacle will be lifted, and again they will open their doors for us,” Grethel said.
In order to protect American nurses and other health professionals, the US has set a limit on the number of foreign nurses that will be given access to the US. This created a shortage of nurses and physical therapists in the States and so the US Congress passed H.R. 5924 or the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. However, the Hispanic block in the US Congress sets as a condition to passing the bill, the granting of amnesty to Mexican illegal settlers in the US. This created a deadlock in the progress of the bill and in the process, the hiring of foreign-trained nurses decreased, if not stopped.
In an article in The FREEMAN (August 11, 2008), Oscar A. Tuason, administrator of the Cebu Doctors University Hospital, expressed alarm over the decrease in the demand for Filipino nurses in the US. He said that this has a direct effect on the number of enrollees in the nursing program of schools, elaborating that at present most nursing schools are losing students at the rate of five to eight percent.
Tuason cited five reasons for the decrease in demand for Filipino nurses: the worsening quality of graduates, unskilled and inexperienced nurses, attitude problems that include lack of motivation and lack of commitment, signing up with more than one agency, and poor ability in conversational English due to the decline in the standard of education.
Judy Aragones, R.N., PhD., spokesperson of the Cebu chapter of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and a professor at the University of San Carlos, however, expressed disagreement with Tuason regarding the trend in nursing enrollees.
“It is obvious that more and more of our young people are taking up nursing,” Aragones claimed. “There are those whose heart may not be in the profession but they see it as their way out of poverty. Even if the US is closing its doors, there are alternate destinations for our nurses like the Middle East, Singapore, Japan and European countries.”
Aragones, however, maintained that going out of the country for work is not the solution to the country’s economic problems. “I strongly disagree with our government encouraging our people to work abroad. It is the responsibility of our government to take care of our graduates. We are losing skilled and hard working people,” she lamented.
Aragones admitted that the main reason for the decrease, if not stop, in the hiring of foreign-trained nurses is mainly because of the visa retrogression policy of the US. As a consequence, many graduates have found themselves unemployed or under employed; and with schools producing more nursing graduates each year, the health sector in the country is now facing a dilemma in the oversupply of nurses.
“Some of them have to make do with being volunteers, receiving no pay or allowance. Their only consolation is that they would be able to use the certification that they would get from hospitals for possible employment in other countries,” Aragones said.
She admitted that hospitals in Cebu are understaffed. Because they could not afford to hire new nurses, they are forced to accept only volunteers.
“It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that our nurses are employed. To encourage them to stay and serve the country, the government should come up with a good socio-economic package that would include non-monetary compensations,” Aragones said.
She said the government must provide good working conditions, skills development, and such other non-economic benefits, saying that salary-wise the Philippines would not be able to compete.
“The starting pay of our nurses right now, on average, is at P15, 000 ($331) per month. Compare that to the salary they will be getting in the US and other countries (an average of US$20 per hour). This is very small,” she explained.
Jay-R, Grethel and Gretchen are now making efforts to pass the local licensure exam. Soon they will start to process their papers for the US, despite the retrogression. “We know that right now it seems impossible to get a job in the US, but then again, it does not mean that we should also stop trying,” Gretchen said.
Aragones explained that unless the government would do something to encourage health workers to stay in the country, more young people like Jay-R, Grethel and Gretchen would still desire to work in foreign countries like the US. Contributed to Bulatlat
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