Farmer, labor groups air fears on tax-reform implementation

In Photo: A family shops at a Makati supermarket over the weekend. Consumers are starting to worry about the possible effect of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law on the prices of fuel and, consequently, basic commodities.

Aside from fishermen, farmers, especially those with small landholdings, will pay the price of the tax-reform measure introduced by the Duterte administration.

The “burdensome” tax measure will severely affect rice farmers and threaten the country’s rice production and food security.

“TRAIN [Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion] will definitely wreck our livelihood and drive us into a state of hunger,” according to the group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).

“The overall rice production and consumption will be affected by TRAIN. TRAIN will cause worsening hunger among the poorest of the poor. Whatever minimal gain that low to middle employees will get from TRAIN will be easily offset and swept by rising prices of commodities, services and public utilities,” said Danilo Ramos, KMP chairman.

For one, KMP said the new excise tax on oil products will result to a minimum 20-percent additional cost in the use of fuel-run farm equipment.

This means farmers will have to shell out more money out of their pockets for the added cost on production brought about by TRAIN.

In 2017 prices of diesel average at P33 per liter. Now, diesel prices have gone up to at least P40 per liter. Meanwhile, cost of fuel prices are higher in the provinces.

In a sample case study by KMP, a rice farmer in Bulacan province tilling 1 hectare of rice land will have to shell out additional P294 per hectare per cropping for the use of mechanized hand tractor to pull and harrow rice lands during land preparation. This does not include added cost for the use of water pump for irrigation, use of dryer, payment for rice milling, transportation of rice produce and other daily expenses.

According to government data, the country has 4 million hectares of rice-harvested lands. This minimum sample computation would translate to a P1.176-billion additional cost for land preparation alone.

Other farm inputs, such as seedlings, fertilizer and pesticides are also expected to increase. Food prices and commodities will increase, too, under TRAIN.

“This situation will have a domino effect on rice prices. Rice marketers and retailers are also expected to pass on added cost to consumers, resulting in hike in rice prices. We see prices of commercial rice increasing up to as much as P58 to P60 per kilo at the minimum in the coming months,” Ramos said. The current average price of commercial rice per kilo in retailers is P50 to P55 per kilo. National Food Authority (NFA) rice price averages at P38 to P40 with reported increase in some areas.

The National Economic and Development Authority has already rejected the NFA’s proposal to increase the buying price of rice from local farmers by P5 per kilo from P17 to P22. The NFA is also poised to import 250,000 metric tons of rice this year.

“These factors will affect severely the livelihood and economic state of rice farmers, and TRAIN will make it worse,” Ramos said.

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), for its part, said the government has failed to put in place safety nets for the poor and adequate protection mechanism against profiteering activities in the light of the tax-reform measure’s implementation.

“We are greatly concerned over the government’s inadequate response to provide social safety nets to millions of poor Filipinos, who are about to fall into deeper poverty due to inflation brought about by the implementation of TRAIN’s excise tax on fuel and sweetened beverages,” ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

The group is looking for the mechanics and the implementing rules and regulations of the TRAIN and plan a dole out of P200 a month to the poor and for those economically affected by an anticipated spike in inflation.

“This TRAIN is a strategic project of the Duterte administration, yet it looks like the implementing rules are not ready and the government institution that would actualize the social safety net program for the poor is unprepared. Is TRAIN a big joke being played on poor Filipinos? Tanjusay said.

The ALU-TUCP also criticized the Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on his statement on profiteering in light of TRAIN’s implementation.

“Stores and local markets have already irresponsibly increased the prices of basic and prime commodities, even before their old inventories are used up. The government must step in [and] impose the consumer-protection laws and regulations, but we don’t see them, we don’t feel the government is protecting us from profiteers and profiteering,’’ Tanjusay added.

Tanjusay said millions of Filipinos will fall further below deeper poverty if government safety nets are not ready and its institutions are ill-prepared to protect those affected by rising inflation caused by TRAIN excise tax. - By Jonathan L. Mayuga



Image Credits: Nonie Reyes

How safe are our malls? TUCP seeks DOLE-BFP joint fire safety inspections nationwide

Otto van Dacula via Reuters

MANILA – The Philippine economy has been growing the past several years on the back of continued robust consumption, fueled in turn by the proliferation of malls nationwide, but how safe are these malls?

The safety question was raised at the weekend by the biggest labor federation in the Philippines, as authorities struggled to put out the second major mall fire in just over two weeks.

Firefighters in Cebu City grappled at the weekend with the blaze that hit the Ayala Mall, even as authorities in Davao City had just pulled out the last body of the 38th victim in the Dec. 23 NCCC mall fire in the southern Mindanao City.

Alarmed over what it called the mall owners’ gross violations of fire safety and healthy and safe workplace regulations that caused the death of workers and put at risks the lives of mall shoppers, labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Sunday called for a joint fire safety audit of malls nationwide.

It cited violations of NCCC Mall and SSI call center to fire safety codes and non-compliance with occupational safety and health regulations.

All of the 38 fatalities in the Davao fire were call center agents working for the US-based SSI firm, which leased space at the mall. Some quarters had questioned the wisdom of allowing call centers – which run 24 hours – to occupy space at the malls, which go into lockdown mode at night and limit entrances and exits for security reasons.

TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said a nationwide inspection to be conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will greatly minimize fires in malls.

“It is outrageous to see another fire taking place in Metro Ayala mall and Gaisano mall in Cebu City when just 15 days ago 38 workers perished in NCCC Mall fire in Davao City. These are not isolated incidents. There is a widespread violation of malls owners to fire safety standards and compromise the safety of mall goers and well-being of mall workers to cut costs and make bigger profit for themselves,” Mendoza said.

“The ongoing Metro Ayala Mall and the Gaisano mall and the NCCC Mall fires are symptoms of the wanton disregard of department store owners to go around our building safety laws and ignore workplace policy on workers’ health and safety. We have to find out other malls nationwide how safe or how fire-risks these are,” he added.

According to Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesman Alan Tanjusay, the joint DOLE-BFP safety audit inspections could be conducted immediately to coincide with the forthcoming dry season when most fire incidents happen. March is traditionally marked as Fire Prevention Month, but it’s also that time of year when many fires occur.

“Fire safety audit to all malls is important because workers work here and children, old folks and entire families consider malls as home. It is the place for work, recreation and business. Malls have become very important place in the community, but how safe is our malls in the light of these twin mall fatal fire incidents? Tanjusay asked. - News5-InterAksyon

Labor group calls for joint fire safety audit of malls nationwide

Manila Bulletin photo

Alarmed by the alleged violations of mall owners to fire safety codes and noncompliance to occupational safety and health regulations, labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called for a joint fire safety audit of malls nationwide.

In a statement, TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) should conduct a nationwide inspection to greatly minimize fire incidents in malls.

“It is outrageous to see another fire incident taking place in Metro Ayala mall and Gaisano mall in Cebu City when just 15 days ago 38 workers perished in NCCC Mall fire in Davao City,” he said.

Mendoza believes these are not “isolated incidents.”

“There is a widespread violation of mall owners to fire safety standards and compromise the safety of mall goers and well-being of mall workers to cut costs and make bigger profit for themselves,” he said.

Mendoza said the ongoing Metro Ayala Mall and the Gaisano mall and the NCCC Mall fires are symptoms of the wanton disregard of department store owners to go around the building safety laws and ignore workplace policy on workers’ health and safety.

“We have to find out other malls nationwide how safe or how fire-risks these are,” Mendoza said.

Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesman Alan Tanjusay stressed the importance of conducting fire safety audit inspections in malls, which some Filipinos consider as home.

“Fire safety audit to all malls is important because workers work here and children, old folks and entire families consider malls as home. It is the place for work, recreation and business,” he said.

Malls have become very important place in the community, but how safe is our malls in the light of these twin mall fatal fire incidents? Tanjusay asked.

ALU-TUCP said the joint DOLE-BFP safety audit inspections should be conducted immediately in view of the forthcoming dry season when most fire incidents happen. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

Labor union eyes wage hike petition amid TRAIN effects on prices

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines says it would seek a nationwide wage increase if the tax reform law triggers 'exorbitant' inflation

Rappler photo

MANILA, Philippines – If prices of goods and services become "exorbitant" because of the tax reform law, a labor union would file another petition for a wage hike despite the one-year ban.

"We will indeed file a petition for wage increase if there is an extraordinary increase in prices of basic commodities such as rice, fish, vegetables and if there is an excessive surge in the cost of services such as transport fare, tuition fees, electricity and water rates," said ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay on Wednesday, January 3.

Wage increase orders had been issued in several regions in 2017. This included the P21 increase for Metro Manila minimum wage earners, which labor groups slammed as "measly."

Under the Revised Rules of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), no wage petition will be entertained for one year upon the effectivity of a wage order.

"If the situation warrants, we will file the petition for workers to cope with [the] rising cost of living even if the one year prescribed for no-wage-increase period set by the wage board is still in effect," Tanjusay said.

ALU-TUCP, which also holds a seat in the House of Representatives, would file petitions in all regional wage boards or through emergency legislation.

Social protection

ALU-TUCP earlier called on the government to implement better social protection policies in order to shield the poor from inflationary effects of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

Figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as of December 2017 show that there are about 2.4 million unemployed persons. There are also an estimated 15.6 million informal sector workers.

Informal sector workers – composed mostly of independent small-scale distributors like sidewalk vendors, jeepney drivers, and small store owners – are the most vulnerable to price hikes because they have no access to social safety nets.

Since they do not have an employer and the financial means, they are unable to register for the Social Security System (SSS), PhilHealth, and Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said the government will be providing a P200 monthly cash voucher to the poorest of the poor.

The Department of Finance (DOF) allocated P1 billion to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for this subsidy. But no implementation guidelines have been released to date. – Rappler.com