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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 2, Number 11 April 21 - 27, 2002 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 2, Number 11 April 21 - 27, 2002 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Analysis: Bulatlat.com
presents new computations on purchasing power and cost of living based on the
March 2002 consumer price index and analyzes the Arroyo administration’s
thrust to increase consumer spending through its so-called “holiday
economics.” By
DANILO ARAÑA ARAO
Under
Administrative Order No. 32, there is currently an optional four-day workweek in
government offices. Malacañang has also declared dayoffs either on a Monday or
Friday whenever a nonworking holiday falls between Tuesday and Thursday. The
government claimed that this is a way to promote domestic tourism during summer
which would hopefully result in increased consumer spending. Since the order
only applies to government employees, Malacañang encouraged the private sector
to also follow suit. Analyzing
the low wages and high cost of living, however, leads one to ask if poor
families during prolonged weekends think of visiting tourist sites or finding
more ways to survive. After all, the perennial problem of low wages amidst high
cost of living still persists. As
of March 2002, Bulatlat.com pegs the daily cost of living for a family of six in
Metro Manila at P528.75. On the other hand, families living outside Metro Manila
need P394.91 (agriculture) and P415.49 (non-agriculture) per day to meet food
and nonfood requirements. These
figures represent a 34% to 36% increase from the daily cost of living in 1997.
(See Table 1)
Indeed,
daily minimum wage rates ranging from P140 (CARAGA region in Mindanao) to P280
(Metro Manila) cannot meet current cost of living requirements. To make things
worse, wages have been eroded by as much as 46% due to the low purchasing power. This
means that compared to situation in 1994, the buying power of one peso today is
much lower due to increased prices of goods and services. As of March 2002, one
peso in Metro Manila is worth 59 centavos in real terms, while one peso in areas
outside Metro Manila is worth only 61 centavos. Computed
in terms of the daily minimum wage rates, there now exists a wage erosion of 39%
nationwide. (See Table 2)
As
these figures show, holiday economics remains a myth as the government fails to
solve the problem of low wages and high cost of living. If its objective is to increase consumer spending, government should do two things: (1) provide a substantial wage hike; and (2) institute price controls to ensure that goods and services are affordable to the marginalized sectors of society. But, as many Filipinos would put it, that is just a “punch in the air.” Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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A
lukewarm response from workers. That was all the Arroyo administration got when
it introduced the scheme to prolong weekends this summer.