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Monday, November 14, 2005
Editorial: Transpo strike
THE year is about to end and the militants along with the transport sector would give one of several sendoffs to 2005 via a transport rally to be held sometime today while their counterparts seek to prolong the experience to three days.
How this would pan out no one exactly knows but based on past experiences the transport pahulay (rest) is just that, a break from the usual grind of poverty facing the drivers and other workers brought in no small part to the greed and utter corruption of this administration.
Along with this break is the usual recitation of the Arroyo administration's litany of sins against the Filipino people which no "People's Court" could prosecute to the fullest extent of justice--for now.
But still they fight and rightly so, if only to break the deafening silence and apathy of those who condemn this administration's excesses but are simply too tired to do so.
Wage retreat
ONE need not castigate President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her turnaround in the legislated wage increase proposal she floated following the approval of the Reformed Value-Added Tax (RVAT).
Of course she would make that proposal, politician that she is, in order to cleanse her hands from whatever guilt she may have felt when she pushed for the passage of that extraneous and abhorrent tax law.
That is if she felt guilty at all to which she has given no indication of doing so even with that proposed legislated wage increase she made over the weekend that she withdrew upon the prodding of the business sector.
When she made that proposal she was merely testing the waters--just like what she did with the Julius Babao episode in which she tried to pick a fight with the national media and others--and seeing if she can get away with it thus scoring a few brownie points and raising her stock among the disillusioned populace.
As expected the business sector didn't like it and raised the alarm anew about how this would result in closure of businesses and massive layoffs and so on. As soon as they rang the alarm bells, President Arroyo backed off.
It is of course too much to hope for the national government to revoke the R-VAT sometime in the near future even if it doesn't raise the projected revenues they hope for but instead cause more misery among the Filipinos.
Thus the workers would have to wait for January to expect another wage increase at a local level. And as things go businesses would always dictate the level of increase for the wages.
(November 14, 2005 issue)
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