MANILA (UCAN): The Nagkaisa Labour Coalition, the largest labour coalition in the Philippines called on the country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to ensure job security for thousands of employees as the government plans to sell some 137 ‘idle’ state properties to private organisations.
“We call on the president to lay down concrete plans on how privatisation would take place considering it would affect our workers’ lives and the future of their families,” the coalition said in a statement on June 5.
The group slammed the secretary of the country’s Department of Finance, Benjamin Diokno, who announced the plan of privatising 137 properties in 2023.
Diokno said the government will sell properties worth about 2.5 billion pesos [$344.5 million]this year, Philippine New Agency reported on June 5.
“The aggressive disposition of non-performing assets will provide much-needed revenues for priority projects. It will also clear the National Government’s books of stagnant assets,” Diokno was quoted as saying.
Privatisation always comes with a price, most of the time, to the disadvantage of the working sector. We hope the new corporations will honour the work contracts of those who have spent decades working in those government assets eyeing to be sold
The Nagkaisa Labour Coalition
The labour group said the Department of Finance did not consider the plight of the employees those state properties that would be impacted by the change in ownership.
“Privatisation always comes with a price, most of the time, to the disadvantage of the working sector. We hope the new corporations will honour the work contracts of those who have spent decades working in those government assets eyeing to be sold,” the coalition added.
Among the properties listed for sale are the Emmanuel Community Hospital Inc. in Tondo, Manila; Central Bank Board of Liquidators in Antipolo City; 21 lots of Technology Resource Centre; Elorde Sports and Tourism Development Corporation; Technology Resource Centre in Visayas; NAFCO lots affected by the High Priority Bus System project; and Wright Patterson Manufacturing Corporation.
The labour group claimed some 400 employees have expressed fear about a possible loss of jobs due to the decision.
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“So far only the selling is clear but how about the employees whose tenure has been secured? Will they enjoy certain retirement or severance packages?” Aileen Gruba, a 45-year-old employee at the Technological Research Centre in the Visayas region, wondered.
Gruba said the government’s privatisation action was “aggressive” without regard for the welfare of its employees.
So far only the selling is clear but how about the employees whose tenure has been secured? Will they enjoy certain retirement or severance packages?
Aileen Gruba
“Where will we go? Will private companies as new owners honour our work contracts?” she asked.
Lorenzo Malaya, a caregiver from the Emmanuel Community Hospital in Tondo, one of the poorest areas in Manila, said once the facility becomes private the poor won’t be able to afford the medical costs. Presently, the hospital offers services for a token fee.
“Our relevance in the community is that we are helping the poor in one of the capital’s poorest. Privatisation means they should pay [higher] fees for the services, which the poor cannot afford,” Malaya said.
Former lawmaker and labour rights lawyer, Neri Colmenares, questioned the privatisation of a community hospital and the sale of 3.46 per cent government shares in a transport corporation.
He said the government should prioritise improving health services and service utilities instead of privatising them.
“Our experience as a nation is not very good if we privatise government corporations and assets. Water and electric bills are up because private corporations are running the show. Transportation costs are up because of the same reason,” Colmenares added.
Lorenzo Malaya, a caregiver from the Emmanuel Community Hospital in Tondo, one of the poorest areas in Manila, said once the facility becomes private the poor won’t be able to afford the medical costs. Presently, the hospital offers services for a token fee
Finance secretary, Diokno, said from 2019 to 2021, the government sold assets worth 664 million pesos [$91.5 million].
Two former employees of state-run corporations that were privatised claimed they did not receive due compensation.
Martin Duenas, a 46-ear-old former supervisor of Integrated Feed Mills Corp., in Davao City in the Mindanao region, which is now privatized, said he received half of the compensation he deserved.
“I served for 18 years but the pay that I received was computed only half of the number of years rendered. There was no explanation given only that it was a severance package,” Duenas recounted.
A father of three, Duenas said it took six months before he got a consultancy job in a private company where the salary was lower.
“I was not even a regular employee but only a project-based employee in my new job. After all the years of experience, this is where I ended,” he added.
A former Amaya Bank manager, 46-year-old Marinelle Lichauco, said her dismissal forced her to sell some of the family property for survival.
“I didn’t expect the effect would lead me to sell some properties. My children were in college when the government decided to sell the company. It took two years before I got another job,” Lichauco recounted.
