Consumer spending slowed to 6.3 percent in the first quarter, down from 10 percent during the same period last year
Agence France Presse May 11, 2023
People form a line outside a bank in the Philippine capital at the height of the pandemic. (File Photo by Jire Carreon)
The Philippines’ economy grew more than expected in the first three months of the year, official data showed Thursday, though the pace was the slowest in two years as soaring inflation and interest rate hikes crimped consumer spending.
The 6.4 percent expansion in the first three months was well down from the revised 7.1 percent enjoyed in the last quarter of 2022, which analysts said could give the country’s central bank some room to step back from its monetary tightening drive.
Expectations were for 6.2 percent growth.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the lower print was partly due to high inflation and last year’s rate hikes, which reined in consumer spending.
“Higher interest rates last year could have impacted on the consumption and investment already this year,” Balisacan said in a briefing.
Consumer spending slowed to 6.3 percent in the first quarter, down from 10 percent during the same period last year.
The Philippine central bank raised interest rates several times last year to rein in inflation, which hit its highest level in more than a decade.
“Perhaps we are starting to feel that because there are usually some lag effects,” Balisacan said.
Balisacan said the government remained “confident” it will hit its 6-7 percent economic growth target this year despite headwinds. The government expects that to pick up pace through 2028, to hit 6.5-8.0 percent.
“High inflation remains a challenge… but the improvement in (the) business climate can counter this unintended effect,” he said.
The Philippines had previously trimmed its growth target as geopolitical and trade tensions, a possible global economic slowdown and typhoons could dampen economic activity.
Balisacan said the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia as well as tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait were among the risks to the growth outlook.
Kaycee Valmonte – Philstar.com May 11, 2023 | 4:48pm
In this March 16, 2018 photo, progressive group Anakpawis holds a protest in front of the Department of Justice. The STAR / Miguel de Guzman, File
MANILA, Philippines — Emerging ways of activism and human rights defending can be an opportunity to keep human rights intact amid shrinking civic spaces in the Philippines, a new study showed.
Among these new initiatives include using art and forming “communities of care,” which Civic Futures noted to be some of the promising opportunities to reshape civic spaces in a country transformed by an administration’s weaponization of security.
“These alternatives present pathways to reshape activism for human rights and offer possible levers of change that donors and other stakeholders can pay attention and direct resources to in the next few years,” Civic Futures noted.
Civic Futures is a venture founded by the Funders Initiative for Civil Society and the Fund for Global Human Rights. It aims to “keep civic space everywhere open” as it tracks “repressive NGO laws and the persecution of activists for more than a decade.”
The research noted that the previous administration headed by President Rodrigo Duterte waged three “wars”—most notably, against drugs, counterinsurgency, and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic that elicited a militarized pandemic response from the government.
The study also said red-tagging, or accusing someone to be part of the insurgency without basis, “emerged as one of the most pervasive and harmful ways” the government as well as police and military personnel curtailed freedoms of individuals.
Activists in the Philippines have repeatedly been “red-tagged” either by individuals in power or by state forces themselves.
The Duterte adminsitration utilized its police and military manpower, from addressing the country’s so-called drug problem to a health crisis.
The administration’s deadly “war on drugs” saw thousands of deaths of alleged persons who used drugs, some of whom killed without due process. It was Duterte himself who ordered police forces to kill anyone who they believe is involved in the drug trade.
No Box Philippines is among the groups geared towards a health-focused and harm reduction response, instead of police action.
The Senate labor penal on Wednesday held a hearing for various bills regarding a proposed minimum wage increase, including Zubiri’s Senate Bill No. 2022, or the Across-the-board Wage Increase Act, which proposes a P150 wage hike for all private sector workers across the country. GMA Integrated News
By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News May 10, 2023 4:57pm
The Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources on Wednesday approved “in principle” a bill which seeks to increase the minimum wage by P150 for the entire country, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said.
“In principle, the Senate Committee on Labor has already approved our Across-the-Board Wage Increase Act, and a Technical Working Group (TWG) is set to discuss a proposed graduated wage increase scheme for our MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises),” Zubiri said.
“We expect that the Committee Report will come out in about two weeks, and we hope to pass the bill before we adjourn in June,” the Senate president said.
The Senate labor penal, on Wednesday, held a hearing for various bills regarding a proposed minimum wage increase, including Zubiri’s Senate Bill No. 2022, or the Across-the-board Wage Increase Act, which proposes a P150 wage hike for all private sector workers across the country.
The Senate president said that the last legislated minimum wage increase was in 1989, at P89, before the passage of the Republic Act 6727, which created the Regional Wage Boards.
“Ang nakita po natin, with due respect sa ating Regional Wage Boards, napakababa po ng mga increase nila at napakatagal bago nila aksyunan ang problema ng pagtaas ng bilihin, at ang sigaw ng tao para sa disente man lang na sahod. Kapag umaaksyon naman sila, napakababa ng increase, between P5.00 to P16.00 lang,” Zubiri said.
(What we’ve seen, with due respect to our Regional Wage Boards, such low increases and a long time before they take action on increasing costs and the public’s cry for a decent wage. And when they take action, the increase is so small, only between P5.00 and P1600.)
To dismiss concerns that wage hikes would scare away foreign investments, the Senate president cited the minimum wage figures in the Southeast Asian region: Indonesia’s minimum wage is equivalent to P842.00 a day, Malaysia’s is P854.00 a day, and Singapore’s is P2,486.00 a day.
Only Vietnam has a lower minimum wage, equivalent to P511 a day.
“Wala po silang kaltas sa PAG-IBIG, sa PhilHealth, sa SSS. Dito, ang naiiwan sa ating mga kababayan mula P570.00 ay P525.00 na take-home. Pang-Metro Manila lang ‘yan. Hindi pa natin pinag-uusapan sa Bukidnon, sa Mindanao,” Zubiri said.
(They don’t have deductions for PAG-IBIG, PhilHealth, SSS. Here, what is left for Filipinos to take home is from P570.00 is P525.00. And that’s only in Metro Manila. We’re not talking about what they take home in Bukidnon, in Mindanao.]
In northern Mindanao, the minimum wage is at P390.00 for non-agricultural, and P378.00 for agricultural.
In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has the lowest wages in the country, the minimum wage is at P316.00 for non-agricultural and P306.00 for agricultural.
“I would like to remind everybody that we already reached a 7.6% GDP growth rate, one of our highest since 1976,” Zubiri said.
Survey results show that more Filipinos agree that it is dangerous to publish or broadcast anything unfavorable against the Marcos Jr. administration
LiCAS News May 10, 2023
At least 47 percent, or nearly half of adult Filipinos, think that it is dangerous to criticize the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., says a survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Tuesday, May 9.
Survey results show that more Filipinos agree that it is dangerous to publish or broadcast anything unfavorable against the Marcos Jr. administration (47%) than those who said they were undecided (27%) or disagreed (26%).
In a statement, SWS said the survey, which was conducted in December last year, is part of its monitoring of Filipinos’ quality of life.
“This year’s special 30th-anniversary celebration of World Press Freedom Day (on May 1) calls to recenter press freedom, as well as independent, pluralistic, and diverse media, as key to the enjoyment of all other human rights,” read the pollster’s statement.
The survey found 47% of adult Filipinos agreeing (19% strongly agree, 28% somewhat agree), 27% undecided, and 26% disagreeing (14% somewhat disagree, 12% strongly disagree) that “It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth.”
The resulting net agreement score of +20 (% agree minus % disagree, correctly rounded), classified by SWS as moderate, is 4 points below the moderate +24 (46% agree, 22% disagree) in December 2021.
Net danger in publishing things critical of the administration falls in all areas except in Mindanao
Net agreement that “It is dangerous to print or broadcast anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth” was highest in Metro Manila (+28), followed by the Visayas (+23), Balance Luzon (+21), and Mindanao (+13).
Compared to December 2021, the net agreement score fell from strong to moderate in Metro Manila, down from +41 (59% agree, 18% disagree) to +28 (53% agree, 25% disagree).
It also fell from strong to moderate in the Visayas, down from +36 (54% agree, 18% disagree) to +23 (47% agree, 25% disagree, correctly rounded).
It stayed moderate in Balance Luzon, hardly moving from +23 (44% agree, 21% disagree) to +21 (46% agree, 26% disagree, correctly rounded).
However, it rose from neutral to moderate in Mindanao, up from +7 (36% agree, 28% disagree, correctly rounded) to +13 (43% agree, 29% disagree, correctly rounded).
Net danger in publishing things critical of the administration stayed moderate in all educational levels except among college graduates.
Bishop Alminaza said that in the Philippines “what we call ‘minimum wage’ is not necessarily a just wage, or a living wage, or a family wage”
LiCAS News May 10, 2023
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos lamented the “unjust” situation of Filipino workers even as inflation in the country has eased.
In an interview with Vatican News on May 9, the bishop said that in the Philippines “what we call ‘minimum wage’ is not necessarily a just wage, or a living wage, or a family wage.”
Data from the Philippine National Wages and Productivity Commission show that the average monthly minimum wage in the country is only 8,902 pesos, or a little over 145 euro.
In contrast, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that as of 2021, the poverty threshold for a family of five, or the minimum monthly income that a family of five needs to meet basic food and non-food requirements, is 12,030 pesos (196.45 euro).
“They did not match the increase in prices,” the bishop said, referring to past wage hikes implemented in the country.
“The majority of the workers have been impoverished. So, if you ask me how is the situation of the workers in the past years, it has really grown worse,” he added.
Aside from insufficient minimum wage, the bishop said some workers do not have benefits and security of tenure.
Bishop Alminaza, who is chairperson of the Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS), pointed out that in the Philippines, the agricultural sector is “the poorest among the poor.”
In a separate statement, the bishop emphasized that a living wage is “necessary and just” and is fundamental to Catholic Social teaching because it is “closely linked to human dignity.”
“Jesus grew up as a son of a carpenter. He was referred to as the carpenter’s son. So, it was Jesus bringing dignity to work,” he said.
“The Social teaching of the Church is to uphold the dignity of labor, of workers,” the bishop added. – from a Vatican News report
The Doability, Justness, and Urgency of Living Wage
Church People-Workers Solidarity (CWS) joins the millions of workers worldwide in commemorating the Labor Day. CWS pays tribute to the working class who, for centuries, continues to advance the cause of workers for dignified labor despite various forms of state repression. This Labor Day 2023, CWS strongly emphasizes the justness, urgency, and doability of living wage in the midst of economic hardships. Therefore, CWS supports the clamor of labor unions in the country for a substantial wage increase.
The Doability of Living Wage
The minimum wage of many Filipino families has been long insufficient for a decent living. A raise has been a must. This will not only benefit the workers and their families but also the economy. CWS supports bills filed by the Makabayan bloc and other lawmakers for a substantial wage increase. House Bill no. 7568 proposed for a P750 wage increase, while Senator Miguel Zubiri’s Senate Bill No. 2002 seeks for P150 increase. CWS also supports initiatives by progressive labor groups to demand for wage increase. The coalition Unity for Wage Increase Now! (UWIN) filed a petition to increase NCR minimum wage to P1,100 for non-agricultural workers. In CALABARZON, the Workers Initiative for Wage Increase (WIN4WIN) petitioned for an increase to P750.
Moreover, CWS supports the proposal that the government shall provide wage subsidies for micro-businesses. Revenues for wage subsidies can be generated by taxing the super-rich and the biggest corporations. Big companies and top billionaires have long benefited from workers’ productivity which earned them billions of profits. A wealth tax, for example, on 2,495 billionaires can contribute to P469 billion. Wage increase creates a strong economic multiplier effect. The additional income allows the workers and their families to buy more. Filipino families spend about 43% of their income on food. Spending more money can increase demand, which in turn can boost local businesses, employment, and economic activity.
The Justness of Living Wage
Living wage is necessary and just. A just wage (living wage, family wage, fair wage, or just compensation), is fundamental to Catholic Social Teaching for it is closely linked to human dignity. Based on this dignity, workers have a legitimate claim to those essential material goods that meet basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, health, education, security, and rest. Pope Leo XIII, in his Encyclical “Rerum Novarum”, asserts that justice, rooted in human dignity, meant that a just wage is one that allows a worker and family to live in “reasonable and frugal comfort” (#34). St. John Paul II, in his encyclical “Centesimus Annus”, considers a just wage as a “legitimate fruit of work” and to refuse or withhold it “can be a grave injustice” (#15). Pope Francis, for his part, emphasizes that a just wage should not be divorced from the workers demand for “three Ts”: Trabajo (work), Techo (housing), and Tierra (land and food). In the end, it is work that gives the human person dignity.
While many of these festivals have religious beginnings they are now becoming secular and are being promoted as tourist attractions
Dancers from the province of Isabela perform during the annual Aliwan Festival in Manila, which depicts various religious celebrations in the country, in 2017. (File Photo by Jhun Dantes)
LiCAS News May 9, 2023
Many towns and villages in the Philippines are now in the thick of celebrating Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May), a centuries-old Catholic festival in honor of the Virgin Mary held during the month of May.
People from different parishes gather colorful flowers to decorate their churches. Streets are lined with buntings and community games and parades are held, complete with brass bands.
The Flores de Mayo is capped by the Santacruzan (Festival of the Holy Cross), a religious festival commemorating the finding, according to legend, of the Holy Cross in Jesus Christ’s Calvary by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great.
Townsfolk choose the prettiest ladies, dress them in gowns and hold a procession before a night Mass at the local church. The town mayor usually sponsors the event, sometimes hosting a dinner party.
While parish priests are involved in planning and preparation of the annual activities, the Church does not necessarily endorse loud and lavish activities.
Monsignor Andy Valera of the Diocese of Malolos in the northern province of Bulacan said there are two kinds of fiesta celebrations, the secular and the religious.
An example of secular fiesta in the province is the Buntal Hat in Baliuag town celebrated every second week of May.
The festival is designed to promote the industry of hat making from buri palm leaves. It is usually highlighted by a showcase of a giant buntal hat measuring two meters in diameter, and more than a meter in height.
For the second type, Monsignor Valera cited the annual Fertility Dance festival in Obando town and the Kneeling Carabao (water buffalo) festival in Pulilan town.
An image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is crowned in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Quezon City during the culmination of the celebration of the Flores de Mayo in 2021. (Photo by Jire Carreon)
The Obando Fertility Dance Festival is famous for married women who want to have a child. It is held for three days from May 17 to 19.
“It is religious in the sense that fertility dance are done with prayers,” Monsignor Valera said.
He added that even movements of dancers and participants are similar to biblical dances recorded in the Old Testament, like the dance of King David.
“It has religious meanings like the dance of King David,” Monsignor Valera said, noting that if a woman wanted a child, her hand movements are toward her.
He said a family friend who wanted to have a child once went to Switzerland for medical treatment but failed. He said his father advised the friend to join the annual fertility dance and a year later, the wife got pregnant.
At least two priests have written separate theses on the religious side of Obando Fertility Dance festival, he said.
The Kneeling Carabao Festival, on the other hand, is held on May 14 in honor of St. Isidore of Labrador, the patron saint of farmers.
Monsignor Valera said training carabaos to kneel in front of the church is the farmers’ way of expressing gratitude to God for a yearlong bountiful harvest.
Introducing lessons on topics like same-sex unions is not only anti-Bible but against Philippine law, they argue
LGBT groups hold a rally in Manila to hail the US Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015. (Photo: UCAN files)
By UCA News reporter May 05, 2023 05:24 AM GMT
Philippine Christian groups, including a youth organization, have voiced their opposition to the introduction of topics like same-sex unions and gender discrimination in the draft curriculum for 10th-grade students.
The recent proposal to include lessons on topics like gender discrimination, rights and experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community by the Department of Education was contrary to the “morals and public customs” of Filipino people, they argued.
“Our youth is not yet ready for such topics, which challenge the Christian-dominated culture of the Philippine nation. It remains contrary to law, good customs, morals, and public policy,” Michael Israel, president of the Catholic Youth for Christ told UCA News on May 4.
Israel said the education department cannot surpass Congress on an issue that has not yet been legalized in the country, where same-sex unions, either in the form of marriage or civil unions, are not yet legally recognized.
“Even the president [Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.] said the country is not yet ready for that piece of legislation. Then, why is the topic being included in the curriculum?” he asked.
In 2019, a group of gay rights advocates questioned the constitutionality of the definition of marriage under Philippine law as a “union between male and female.”
“Same-sex marriage is slowly creeping under our nose into the very curriculum of our basic education”
The group claimed that such a definition restricted same-sex unions, contrary to the constitution that offered no “gender-based” definition of marriage.
“Our constitution did not say that marriage should be a union between male and female. It only says that marriage is the foundation of society … neither does it define spouses as male and female,” gay rights advocate Carlo Libiran told UCA News.
Christian groups, however, said the courts should intervene to determine if the education department indeed exceeded its mandate by including “illegal topics” in mainstream education.
“We are shocked to discover that the promotion of gender ideology, same-sex unions and same-sex marriage is slowly creeping under our nose into the very curriculum of our basic education. What is more worrying is the slant towards promoting and condoning such practices in the minds of our young students,” Christian pastor and lawmaker Brother Eddie Villanueva said in a statement.
Villanueva said the education department’s decision was not only anti-Bible but against Philippine law.
“Not only is this anti-God but also clearly unconstitutional. Section 13, Article II of the constitution mandates that the state shall promote the moral and spiritual well-being of our youth. I do not see that the introduction of these topics into our basic education curriculum is heading in the right direction,” he added.
“It seeks to provide learners with a broader understanding of gender-based issues”
The Department of Education though claimed that the topic of same-sex unions has been in the curriculum since 2013.
“It seeks to provide learners with a broader understanding of gender-based issues, encourage respect within the community, and promote inclusivity,” it said in a statement on May 3.
The education department, however, said it would gather and consider all opinions before finalizing the curriculum.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said the new curriculum could hurt academic freedom among Catholic schools and universities.
“Academic freedom has always been the right of every academic institution to determine who may teach; what may be taught; how it shall be taught; and who may be admitted to study. This raises doubts in our academic freedom as a Catholic institution,” the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education executive secretary Father Ernesto De Leon told UCA News.
Various groups have raised alarm over the high volume of fossil fuel and toxic cargo-carrying vessels allowed to ply critically biodiverse seas
Corals, reef, and fishes in Verde Island Passage (Shutterstock photo by Lexter Yap)
LiCAS News May 9, 2023
Communities living along the Verde Island Passage (VIP) in the Philippines, the world’s most critical marine biodiversity center, called for a ban on all tankers carrying toxic cargo to avoid risks of tragedies similar to the ongoing oil spill.
The call was made as the House of Representatives’ Committee on Ecology and Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing in aid of legislation in relation to the oil spill caused by the February 28 sinking of the fuel tanker MT Princess Empress.
“We’re disappointed that even as it took two long months before congress called for another investigation, there appears to be no significant progress in exacting justice for affected communities and biodiversity,” said Gerry Arances, executive director of think-tank Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED).
He said coordination among various government and responsible actors “still proves to be severely lacking.”
“The complexity of responses necessary in the aftermath of a disaster of this scale shows that we should not allow such incidents to happen in the first place,” said Arances.
He said tankers carrying toxic cargo such as industrial oil and other fossil fuels should be banned from coursing through the VIP.
Various groups have raised alarm over the high volume of fossil fuel and toxic cargo-carrying vessels allowed to ply critically biodiverse seas, especially the marine-significant Verde Island Passage.
Fisherfolk group representatives who attended the hearing lamented the “insufficient and problematic responses” made for communities impacted by the oil spill.
“It is disheartening to see the finger-pointing,” said Dindo Melaya, convenor of oil spill-impacted fisherfolk coalition Koalisyon ng Mangingisdang Apektado ng Oil Spill.
Arances said government agencies and members of Congress can go on with the “blame game … but there will be no justice if the polluters that caused this ecological disaster are allowed to play truant.”
“We sincerely hope that our government will deliver the punitive actions these companies deserve, including the compensation they owe to communities whose livelihood they robbed and whose welfare they harmed,” he said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Tuesday, May 9, joined five provincial governments to press for a law that will make the VIP a protected area.
Environment Secretary Antonia Loyzaga said that while the VIP is currently classified as a marine protected area, governors from surrounding provinces want it to be protected and covered by legislation.
Say shootings are being labeled deaths by natural causes, claim harassment amid the backdrop of an ICC probe
This photo taken on June 17, 2022 shows forensic pathologist pointing at a scapula with a bullet hole during a post mortem medical examination of an exhumed drug war victim, at the University of the Philippines Manila, in Manila. (Photo: AFP)
UCA News reporter May 09, 2023 06:59 AM GMT
Families of victims of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs claim they are being harassed by state operatives in order to cover up how their loved ones met their deaths.
The claims come amid an International Criminal Court probe into thousands of deaths attributed to Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Lourdes de Juan, 41, widow of Constantino de Juan, said several men claiming to be members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were putting pressure on her after an independent forensic pathologist examined her husband’s remains.
De Juan said she was visited by the NBI officials at least three times at her house in a slum in Quezon City, in the capital Manila, where her husband was shot and killed by masked men in 2016 while cooking pasta for the birthday of one of their seven children. Two of the children witnessed the killing.
“Their visits were in relation to a subpoena I received last January, asking me to appear at the NBI office,” she told UCA News.
In March this year, the ICC rejected Philippine government appeal to suspend a probe into the war on drugs, started by Duterte when he came to power in 2016. Official figures put the death toll at 6,500 but rights groups like Human Rights Watch claim the tally is much higher, with some estimates putting the toll at more than 30,000.
Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president, serves as vice president in the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Marcoses and the Dutertes are known political allies.
De Juan said she has an idea why government operatives have contacted her.
“They [NBI] knew I allowed a forensic pathologist to examine my husband’s remains and the result was that he did not die due to natural causes as certified on the official death certificate but due to a bullet wound to his head,” she said.
The crime scene report stated that her husband died due to three bullet wounds and the certificate was attested by a physician from East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.
But when the Philippines Statistics Authority issued the official death certificate, the 36-year-old’s cause of death was due to natural causes.
“This is completely false because my husband died because he was shot,” de Juan said.
Aided by anti-drug war activist and Society of Divine Word priest Father Flavie Villanueva, an independent forensic pathologist exhumed her husband’s remains on Dec. 8, 2021.
“He [De Juan] was reportedly pronounced dead and the case was certified as ‘three bullets due to gunshot’. On the Philippine Statistics Authority death certificate, however, a private physician signed the cause of death as ‘acute myocardial infarction [due to hypertension],” forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun wrote in her report.
