Why is essential domestic and care work so disregarded? (Part 1 of 3)
Every Filipino home has someone looking after the children’s needs, nursing an ill or elderly relative, doing the cooking, cleaning, and other usually undervalued but crucial activities needed for any household to function. In lower to middle-income households, these care responsibilities are…
Ano’ng pwede natin gawin? AI is coming for your job
When the network giant GMA-7 presented to the public their newest sportscasters Marco and Maia, the Internet was all abuzz. Why? They look normal for sports reporters except for one thing—they are not humans. GMA-7 calls the move “innovation in journalism” and reassured the public that the AI…
by Katrina Bernardez and CJ Castillo
What does high food prices mean for Filipino working-class families?
Most Filipino workers, especially those in the informal sector, live on low-paying insecure jobs. So as food prices go up and wages remain low, more Filipino working-class families are unable to meet basic food needs. Official government figures corroborate this statement. The 2022 Family Income…
Wages and (₱)rice Control
Mainstream economists and opinion writers were quick to sense a boo-boo on the issuance by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. of Executive Order No. 39 which imposes mandatory caps or price ceilings on rice prices, purportedly to protect consumers against hoarding, profiteering, and cartels. They are…
#SONA2023: Mataas pa rin ang presyo ng mga bilihin
“The state of the nation is sound, and is improving. Dumating na po ang Bagong Pilipinas,” declared Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24, 2023. It seemed deliberate on his part to end his speech with the “Bagong Pilipinas” (New Philippines)…
Gig delivery riders: Workers or independent contractors?
The Covid-19 pandemic saw the rise of digital platform workers who were mostly invisible in normal times. The new workers in the digital economic universe -- commonly called platform or gig economy -- became essential workers providing the needed services when the pandemic locked down people inside…
The party-list system in the Philippines: Mangled and twisted beyond recognition
In the recently held Philippine national elections on 9 May 2022, a total of 55 party-list groups1 filled up 62 seats in the House of Representatives. Joining the party-list representatives are 253 district representatives elected in the same elections. The ACT-CIS or the Anti-Crime and Terrorism…