Why do we need a Nego-Livelihood Revolution?

The reasons are glaring; the government’s latest socio-economic data for the year 2002 are seriously alarming:

Poverty. The estimates of poverty incidence in the country as released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NCSB) showed that 40% of the population, or some 31 million Filipinos, are poor.

Low Wages. Most Filipino families do not earn enough to make both ends meet. Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and NSCB revealed that statutory wages are inadequate compared to what a family of six members needs to survive.

Low Purchasing Power. The purchasing power of peso in the country fell to P0.603 in May 2002 from P0.625 in the previous year. Notably, the buying power of the fuel, light and water group fell also in May to P0.564 from P0.622 due to increasing costs of fuel and electricity.

Unemployment. The National Statistics Office (NSO) Labor Force Survey revealed that the unemployment rate grew to 13.9% from 13.3% in April 2001. The underemployment rate also increased to 19.26% from 17.5% in the same period in the same year. The NSO also reported an increase in “own account” workers, most of them in the service sector, to 11.4 million from 10.9 million a year earlier. These self-employed workers are forced to fend for themselves due to the lack of economic opportunities in the country.

There was also an increase in the number of unpaid family workers, to 4.096 million from 4.056 million a year earlier. These are workers who help in the families’ business or work, yet are not paid. This increase also points out the lack of employment opportunities, since these workers would probably prefer to look for jobs to better help their families – if only there were jobs available.

Retrenchment. Most people also lost their jobs due to an increase in closures in the first two months of 2002. DOLE reported that some 152 firms closed and 671 reduced their workforce. A total of 20,962 workers were affected, a 79% increase from last year.



A Call for Nego-Livelihood Revolution



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