Tag: labor day

Labor Day serves as a reminder that Filipinos are workers and not much else

May 1, 2021 benign0 8 Comments

It’s Labour Day again and that time of the year when the familiar background din of poverty porn and rhetoric around the “victimisation” of workers is put front-and-centre and amplified to circus-grade. At the centre of all this noise is the idea that need determines pay and wealth obligates “giving”. Never mind, of course that…

Economy

Filipino workers need to ditch OBSOLETE activists like Renato Reyes this #LaborDay on #MayoUno2018

May 1, 2018 benign0 6 Comments

Filipinos need to change their labour “leaders”. They spout nothing but obsolete Cold War-era slogans every labour day and this year is no different. This year’s call is, guess what, “unite” against [ blah blah blah ]. What is this year’s blah blah blah issue? Contractualisation — specifically the call to stamp out the use…

Development, Economy

Why it is ABSOLUTELY wrong for Filipino workers to expect tips

May 2, 2017 benign0 12 Comments

Tipping is a sad relic of American culture that Filipinos have embraced. Indeed, Filipino workers have gone further and perverted the concept by seeing tips as an entitlement rather than a mere pleasant surprise bonus from happy customers. Most disturbing of all is how “activists” encouraged people to tip workers on, of all occasions, labour…

Development, Economy, Society

Philippine Labor Day rhetoric: the same old bullshit

April 26, 2014April 26, 2014 benign0 24 Comments

So it’s “Labor Day” again this 1st of May in the Philippines. What do the usual suspects who champion the workers’ “fight” have to offer this time in terms of rhetoric? Considering that they’ve milked the easy ones dry — anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism, anti-incumbent-government, higher wages, more jobs, etc. — what else is there? There is…

Development, Economy, Politics

Should we junk the minimum wage law in the Philippines?

May 2, 2013November 11, 2014 benign0 46 Comments

Workers unite! But then ask the question: Unite to do what exactly? That slogan has been around for more than two centuries now, and though many “activist” elements out there might want us to believe that their “fight” was what put iPhones in our hands, WiFI signals in our living rooms, and Hong Kong vacations…

Development, Economy, Lifestyle, Politics

Are You Willing To Pay For Bembol Roco’s Trip To Cannes?

May 1, 2013May 1, 2013 Gogs 3 Comments

I do wish the government can send Bembol Roco to Cannes for the premiere of his movie Maynila Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag. #cannes #grant #leadactor â€” Erik Matti (@ErikMatti) April 29, 2013 I hope this is a fair question to ask in this case and in any case when someone…

Glitz and Glamour, Government, Politics

The Rediscovery and Re-enchantment of Our Humanity: in Honor of the May Day and In Defense of the Global Occupy Movement

May 1, 2013May 1, 2013 Jose Mario de Vega 8 Comments

The present times are complicatedly so fast and furious. So fast the pacing that we forget to stop and pause to enjoy the quality time with our family and savor the moment with our friends! We are so concern with so many pressing issues and material needs that we forgot the importance of silence, of…

Civics, Economy, Lifestyle, Society

The empty rhetoric surrounding Labor Day in the Philippines

May 1, 2012 benign0 6 Comments

It’s labour day again in the Philippines. A colleague of mine noted the irony in this celebrated occasion being a “non-working” holiday. But the way that irony and many others simply fly over pointed heads in a society renowned for missing simple points is another topic for another occasion. The more important thing to observe,…

Development, Economy, Society