Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura hailed the people’s growing unity in demanding for economic aid amid the health crisis still raging on. As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 1.18 million in the Philippines, so did the Bayanihan to Arise as One bill—or Bayanihan 3—inch toward the House plenary, bringing with it the promise of aid worth P216B in cash grants alone.

UMA, however, lamented that this amount was still much lower than what workers need, especially in rural areas like Isabela. Agricultural workers are at the mercy of regional minimum wage rates, much lower than that of the national capital region, and of payment systems prone to abuse like ‘pakyawan,’ in which output-based sums are split between any number of workers. According to the group, demands for wage relief and higher wages must complement the demand for aid.

“In Cagayan Valley region, it’s bad enough that the regional minimum wage for agricultural workers is P340. That is already P724 less than the family living wage,” decried UMA chairperson Antonio Flores. “But if they’re waged P170, how can the authorities expect these agri-workers to live?
Landlords and agri-businesses have turned even day-to-day subsistence into a daily struggle.”

The P216B in Bayanihan 3 translates to a P2,000 cash grant per Filipino. Flores explained that this was 80% short of the P10,000 ayuda asked by Filipino families, and was yet to include the P15,000 agricultural production subsidy demanded by farmers and fisherfolk and the P100 wage relief demanded by workers. None of these solutions address the deeper problem of slave-like conditions in agricultural work either.

“In Sta. Maria, the work day runs from 12 to 16 hours. Benefits are withheld. And when farm supervisors are in a rush, they resort to pakyawan, which can pull the day’s wage down to as low as P90 and force minors to participate just to meet the quota,” narrated Flores. “If authorities could ignore us without a pandemic, we can certainly expect them to ignore us with a pandemic in place.”

Last April 15, UMA and Anakpawis Partylist filed a petition for emergency wage relief at the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the labor department in NCR, citing several reasonable grounds. On the same day, UMA-Isabela filed a similar petition at the RTWPB in Region 2 on grounds more particular to the region. The RTWPB-NCR, however, junked it last May 4 on a technicality.

“UMA will continue to take measures that alleviate the burden carried by agricultural workers,” Flores swore. “They may ignore our plea for wage relief on the regional level, but we stand united with all democratic forces urging Bayanihan 3 to accommodate our demands on a national scale. The struggle for a national minimum wage continues, and we will exhaust all means to raise it to P750 for the benefit of all workers, no exceptions.”

Press statement – May 24, 2021 – UMA

For reference:

Gi Estrada – Media Officer – 09179450552