MILITANT workers are challenging the Duterte administration to undergo the “working class challenge”.
In its statement for the Labor Day celebration Friday, May 1, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) dared President Rodrigo Duterte and his officials to step into the shoes of workers and their families who have been forced to subsist on a P5,000 cash assistance for one month.
”This Labor Day, we challenge President Duterte and his officials to live how workers experience the crisis with the same policies and financial aid that they provide the Filipino people!" said KMU chairman Elmer Labog.
"Even just for a week, let’s see how grounded they are with the programs they have for the people,” he added.
This, the labor leader said, means that the officials must not use fancy cars, have no personal aides, zero health insurance for a week, live in a community in Tondo or in San Roque, and pay monthly rent.
"You’re giving us P5,000 a month, or a budget of P1,000 a week. We go to work based on these economic conditions. See if you survive a whole week,” Labog said.
He said the challenge aims to make top ranking government officials realize how much of a failure their assistance package is to the estimated two million displaced workers.
"Duterte and his government should realize that the supposed aid programs fail to reach the people who are in dire need," said Labog.
Based on the latest data of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), a total of 2.3 million workers have already been displaced by the enhanced community quarantine being enforced by the government to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
However, DOLE was only able to provide the one-time P5,000 cash assistance to 345,865 formal sector workers due to its limited budget. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)