Tuesday, August 25, 2009

KABATAAN PARTYLIST PROPOSES EMPLOYEES' DAY-OFF FOR VOTERS' REGISTRATION

Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond “Mong” Palatino today proposed a 'day-off with pay' for employees to allow them to register for the 2010 elections.

“Employees who work during office hours do not have time to register. By the time their shift ends, government offices conducting voters' registration have already closed. Companies should give their employees one day-off on or before the deadline for voters' registration to ensure that they will be able to participate in the 2010 polls, especially since most first-time workers are also first-time voters,” Palatino said.

Palatino cited the 100% Employee Voters Registration Program of Nexus, a Business Process Outsourcing Company, as an example of such an initiative. “While there are companies that launch voters' registration programs, it would be better if all companies are mandated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to give their employees a whole day off for them to register,” he said.

Palatino said, “It would be better if employees who registered will be given incentives. Nexus, for instance, gives free tickets to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds for the first fifty employees who submit their official voter registration documents to the Human Resources department.”

Palatino said the Comelec is disturbingly “way off target,” citing the agency's data that as of latest, only 821,200 new voters have registered. “This is a far cry from Comelec's 3 million target come deadline, and even still an epic backlog from the estimated 5 million first-time voters in the country,” Palatino said.

Palatino said he would file a resolution later today directing the DOLE to require both private companies and government offices to implement a one-day-off for voters' registration before the October deadline.

This, he said, is part of their "1 milyon, 1 panata" voters' registration campaign, which aims to encourage one million first-time voters to register for the 2010 elections. Visit Isang Milyon, Isang Panata website for more details.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Isang Milyon, Isang Panata



Join us in our campaign to gather 1 million signatures of young voters. This campaign serves as a vow to actively participate and campaign for a clean and honest 2010 elections. For more info, click this.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Call of Call Centers

Privilege Speech of Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palat­ino
Delivered on August 17, 2009

Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, I rise on behalf of fellow young Filipinos denied of their dreams and were forced to enter the illusory world of call centers.

The tale of Filipino youths setting aside their childhood dreams to enter the call center industry is fast becoming a common story. More and more young Filipinos are being lured into working in a call center regardless of their educational background. A starting salary of P15,000 on average is indeed attractive, not to mention the signing bonus and incentives for good work performance.

As the global financial crisis sweeps ominously into Asian shores, the Philippine government has continuously promoted and relied on the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) industry to provide opportunities to millions of jobless Filipinos. The number of jobs generated grew robustly from 99,000 workers in 2004 to 372,000 workers in 2008, most of them in their 20s.

For the government, the BPO sector is a major contributor in terms of revenues and employment generation. From $350 million in 2001, revenues generated from the BPO sector surged to $6 billion in 2008. The government was quick to conclude that the BPO sector is poised to benefit from the global recession.

This has prompted both the administration and the vanguards of globalization to brand the BPO sector as the “sunshine industry.”

But there is a need, Mr. Speaker, to bust the myth surrounding the so-called sunshine industry. For behind the seemingly innocuous statistics and improving figures lie tales of exploitation, false hopes, and dim working conditions inside the call center.

Totoong mas mataas ang tinatanggap na suweldo ng isang call center agent kumpara sa isang regular na manggagawa. In reality, foreign companies are exploiting our cheap labor. The average annual salary of a call center agent in the Philippines is $3,964. This is lower than Thailand’s $4,874, Malaysia’s $5,199, and Singapore’s $16,884. Kung totoong tayo ang binansagang “Offshoring Destination of the Year” noong 2007, bakit kakarampot lamang ang sahod ng call center agents natin kumpara sa ating mga kapitbahay?

Companies in developed countries benefit immensely from this set-up. By taking advantage of highly-skilled and low-value labor in poorer economies such as ours, foreign firms gain an estimated net savings of 20-40 percent on labor costs.

Despite the relatively decent pay and seemingly rich rewards, job tenure in the call center industry, as labor economist Clarence Pascual puts it, is “as transient as the phone calls that agents make or take.”

This is evident in the industry’s high attrition rates or the proportion of the workforce that leaves a company or industry. The Call Center Association of the Philippines pegs the turnover rate in the country at 60-80 percent, the highest in the world.

According to a multi-country survey conducted by Callcentres.net, full-time call center agents stay in a contact center for a brief 22 months, while part-time agents stay for an even shorter 10 months.

This is an international figure, Mr. Speaker. In the Philippines, where most of the call centers are outsourced, offshore and non-unionized, the situation is even worse: 60 percent of call center workers stay in a company for only a year or less.

As more employees leave the industry, the demand for replacements becomes constant. According to an article in Newsbreak magazine, for every employee hired to fill in a new seat, another two employees must be hired to replace the seats vacated by those who left. How apt, Mr. Speaker, that this industry is marked by “hellos” and “goodbyes.”

The culprit: poor quality of jobs at the call center. A survey by the Call Center Project based at Cornell University in New York shows that the high attrition rate is caused by a low job quality in call centers. The study revealed that 67 percent of agents found in 39 percent of call centers work in low to very low quality jobs.

The Call Center Project survey points out that worker turnover and quit rates are higher as job discretion or the agent’s “sense of control” becomes lower and monitoring on the job becomes more intense. Low job discretion and high performance monitoring contribute to employee stress and rapid job burnout.

Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, the job of a call center agent is not that all fancy nor ideal. For it is in the very nature of the call center job to be exploitative.

Call centers—vendors in indsutry parlance—provide services, such as customer service, sales, technical support, on behalf of client companies. They compete for accounts from companies that ousource some of their functions. In this competitive arena, the agent is stuck between two contrasting interests—he or she must keep costs low for the client while ensuring profits for the call center.

In this set-up, quantitative targets are laid down by clients to reduce costs and increase productivity, giving them the upper hand. In the call center industry, everything is measured.

Thus, call center agents work the phones for the entire duration of their work shift. Unlike our jobs, where we have time to read newspapers or chat with our officemates, the job of a call center agent is one of isolation. The calls just keep coming in, and one has no choice but to pick up to phone.

Moreover, one faces punitive measures, such as forced leave, suspension or even termination, for failing to meet productivity targets, which serve as basis for staff assessment and promotions.

To ensure the targets are met, clients even enforce remote monitoring of actual calls. Supervisors track an agent’s use of time, from call handling time to time spent on “after call work” and break time. Recorded calls are scored for quality on a monthly or weekly basis. A low score translates to a corrective action memo, which can cost one’s job. Consequently, monitoring becomes a constant source of anxiety for workers.

Since monitoring and evaluation are done remotely, penalized workers do not have enough opportunity to appeal disciplinary actions. A 22-year old agent says in their company, even tenured workers issued with corrective action memos get terminated.

According to a survey by a labor research center, only a 10-minute per day period is allowed for personal use, such as going to the restroom. This becomes difficult for the workers since a cold workplace temperature encourages frequent urination. Female agents, thus, usually suffer from urinary tract infection.

Since the United States is the biggest market of BPO industry, this requires call center operations during the evening. The call center sub-sector is changing the nightlife of Manila. Bars, restaurants and convenience stores are open every morning to accommodate the night workers.

But the graveyard shift has become a major source of difficulty and dissatisfaction for a lot of agents as their day-to-day routines are turned upside down. Medical specialists point out that disrupting the body clock can cause manic depression and heart problems.

Weekends and holidays are also rarely off, since the calendar being followed is that of the clients, resulting in very rare family time for married agents. Meanwhile, compulsory overtime or extended time is also prevalent.

The Department of Health has warned against this work schedule, aggravated by an intense and exhaustive workload. DOH warned that persons working in the graveyard shift are vulnerable to various diseases, including hypertension, cardiovascular illnesses, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases. Foreign studies have even shown that graveyard shifts can increase the risk of cancer among women workers.

Noong isang taon, Mr. Speaker, ibinalita sa TV Patrol World ang pagkamatay ng isang call center agent. Siya ay si Dingdong Flores, inatake ng hypertension habang nasa trabaho. Siya ay na-coma bago pa mahatid sa ospital.

The DOLE has made separate studies on health risks associated with call center work. Both studies show high incidence of eyestrains symptoms, muskuloskeletal symptoms, voice disorders, hearing problems.

Since most call centers employ first-time and young workers who are hesitant to complain, these health problems may even be an underestimation of the true state of health among workers.

Such health hazards explain high rates of absenteeism in the industry. Consequently, call centers have adopted punitive attendance policies. In some call centers, eight absences over a six-month period constitute grounds for termination.

While they are entitled to sick leave, workers find difficulty in securing the supervisor’s approval.

BPO employees are also deprived of socialization opportunities with family and friends. Dr. Prandya Kulkarni, who writes for United Press International Asia, adds that young BPO workers, who receive high salaries, do not have the maturity and emotional capability to handle their wealth. This “sudden wealth syndrome” has led to such high-risk behaviors as loose sexual practices, drug addictions and alcohol abuse.

Another alarming reality in the call center industry is the absence of unions. Unionism is covertly and overtly discouraged, if not forbidden. Foreign employees warn that if unions in call centers will be allowed, they will leave the Philippines. Workers’ contracts clearly stipulate that forming or joining a union is prohibited.

Such a repressive practice, Mr. Speaker, is a clear violation of the Philippine Labor Law, where it is stated that every worker has the right to form and join a union. Isn’t it ironic, Mr. Speaker, how our call center workers are rendered voiceless in a voice industry?

Habang inilalahad natin ang mga suliraning ito, habang inihahanda natin ang ating mga sarili sa pagtatapos ng araw na ito, magsisimula pa lamang ang araw ng libu-libo nating manggagawa sa call center. Nawa’y huwag dumating ang panahon na ang isasagot ng ating mga kabataan sa tanong na “What do you want to be when you grow up?” ay maging isang call center agent.

Anong klaseng mga mamamayan ang mahuhubog ng sistemang ito? Anong klase ng kaalaman ang ating ikikintal sa ating mga kabataan, na siyang mamumuno sa ating bayan? Paano nila paglilingkuran ang bayan kung ang tangi nilang alam ay tumugon sa daing ng mga dayuhan?

Nakakabahala, Mr. Speaker, ang kuwento ng isang manggagawa na tatlong taon nang nagtratrabaho sa call center. Ayon sa kaniya, “a plague is raging among the youth working in the call center industry” and that is apathy. Dagdag niya, nabubuhay ang mga call center agent sa isang mundong batbat ng kawalang-pakialam. Ang tangi nilang sinusunod ay ang dikta ng orasan, ang dikta ng makina. Tila hindi na sila kabahagi sa mga isyung panlipunan.

Sa kasalukyan, kinakaharap ng BPO industry ang kakulangan ng skilled workers, ng mga kabataang mahusay mag-Ingles. The government is now tinkering with the educational system to address the needs of the BPO industry. President Arroyo has mandated the use of English language as the medium of instruction in schools.

But such measures can only do so much to address employment problems in the country.

At the minimum, the government should ensure the implementation of our labor code, which aims to protect our workers and guarantee their right to organization and humane working conditions.

Call centers should respect our labor code. Bukod sa pagtuturo ng American accent, dapat ding ipaalam ng mga kumpanyang ito sa ating mga aplikante ang kanilang mga karapatan bilang empleyado.

Ngayong nauuso ang call centers, napapanahong bumuo tayo ng batas na magtitiyak sa kanilang mga karapatan. Sa kagyat, ito ang ating maiiambag sa libu-libong kabataang pinasok at balak pasukin ang BPO industry.

The government should not use the seemingly rosy statistics of the BPO sector to conclude that we have a strong economy. Ultimately, it is dangerous to exaggerate the importance of the BPO industry. The government should put more emphasis on propelling the domestic economy as a whole rather than making public institutions and laws serve the needs of BPO companies.

Thank you Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

How lavish can it be?

As soon as Filipinos came to know of GMA’s and companions’ lavish dinner at a posh restaurant in New York, criticisms hurled at them came left and right. Time and again, her most rabid supporters spoke on her behalf, defending GMA like true slaves and ardent followers. The case in New York is just but one of the trips abroad by GMA with members of the First Family, cabinet officials, pro-administration Senators and like-minded Congressmen lugging behind, and surely brandishing taxpayer’s money with their many dine-outs. But the fact of the knowledge, first circulating in blogs, came to the public’s knowledge, which added more to the disgust and abomination of many Filipinos, who eke out on a few kilo of rice, noodles and tuyo as staple food.


Photograph: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images

Malacañang was quick to react and instinctively, readily concocted scapegoats to own up to the bill. First, it was Rep. Romualdez, and then Rep. Suarez echoed what was supposed to be a believable lie –that it was they who footed the bill, that no taxpayer's money was used, etc, etc. Now would anyone buy their alibi?



What isolated GMA more is that this ostentatious dinner happened in the midst of the late President Cory Aquino’s family opting to forego a state funeral that would cost the government a considerable amount of taxpayer’s money.

Another irony is, GMA boasts in her SONA that her program Hunger Mitigation Program aims to address the fast rising hunger rate in the country, with the President taking into consideration reports made by the Social Weather Station that said "Hunger has quadrupled since 2003.” Adding insult to the injury as a cliché goes.

In 2008, our country was ranked 5th in a survey by Gallup International-Voice of the People. The report said four out of every ten Filipinos have very little or no food at all on their tables from the past year.

For many Filipinos, what was reported recently – which Palace officials simply refer to as exaggerated, is a validation of how flamboyant and grandiose this present administration has become at the expense of the toiling masses.

To name a few of the dubious projects this present administration embarked on – the NBN-ZTE deal, if not exposed prematurely, would surely make a few privy officials a hundred times richer; roads constructed are being padded brazenly; millions of pesos spent for the repair of the House of Representatives in the recently concluded SONA; trips abroad with a hefty entourage; dinners, gowns, vehicles.

Indeed, where there is pomposity, corruption skulks. Where there is corruption, grandiosity lurks. This we learned from the past.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Cory's last political statement against Con Ass



As we pay our last respect to former President Cory Aquino, allow me to share her last and strongly-worded political statement read by grandson Kiko Dee last June 10, 2009 at the anti-Con Ass rally in Makati City.

Minamahal kong mga kababayan,

Ikinalulungkot ko na hindi ko kayo makakasama ngayon, ngunit kahit na mahina ang aking katawan, matatag pa rin ang aking paninindigan na tutulan ang katiwalian.

Over the years, I have learned to endure pain and sadness–first, when Ninoy was separated from us by the hand of a dictator; then, when he was taken from us by the hand of an assassin; and now that I have placed myself at the hands of a merciful God.

But perhaps there is nothing that causes me greater pain than to see our people betrayed again and again by those they have elected to lead and serve them. To those of us who had fought long and hard to restore our democracy, the pain deepens at the thought that all our gains have so quickly been eroded.

Nang mapalayas natin ang diktador, hindi ba’t ipinangako nating hindi na tayo papayag na mawala muli ang ating kalayaan? Subalit, narito muli tayo, sa gitna ng walang-hiyang pang-aabuso ng mga makapangyarihang nagnanais na sirain ang mga pinakapayak sa ating mga batas.

Hindi ito ang pamumunong nararapat para sa atin. Hindi ito ang lipunang nais kong ipamana sa mga susunod na henerasyon, kaya sa ngalan nila at ng aking sarili bilang mga mamamayang Pilipino, tumututol ako sa nais ng mga tiwaling miyembro ng kamara na palitan ang ating Saligang-Batas sa pamamagitan ng isang Constituent Assembly. At nananawagan ako sa inyo at sa lahat ng mga Pilipino na magpahayag ng ating pagprotesta rito.

Nasa inyo po ang tunay na kapangyarihan sa ating demokrasya. Huwag n’yo pong payagang manumbalik ang mga pamamaraan ng mga diktador. Tutulan po natin ang Con-Ass! At ipagdasal po natin ang ating Inang Bayan.

Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino! Maraming salamat po.