Unsung hero

The unsung hero in the spectacular growth of the Philippine economy under President P-Noy is Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. While many technocrats, economic ministers, taipans and business leaders claim part of the success, we cannot overlook the fact that the manner in which Baldoz has managed industrial peace throughout P-noy’s term is noteworthy.

Being a public servant who rose from the ranks, Baldoz has the experience to make the right decisions, in favor not just of labor and or management but for the overall good of the country.  She is also not intimidated by a few radical union leaders who picket or strike against the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), or by heads of big multinational companies. She will talk to them all and try and strike (no pun intended) a solution that is fair for everybody and beneficial to the country.

Recently, Digitel management decided to execute a redundancy program for the remaining 400 or so Digitel employees. They did this because the company had to migrate all the Digitel subscribers to the PLDT network since the Digitel network has reached the “end of life” stage.  The redundancy program was approved by DOLE and took effect last March 16. But the Labor department also made sure Digitel employees were properly taken care of.

In response to the DOLE’s vision of looking after redundated employees, Digitel management offered a generous package to all its employees and was able to either re-hire in PLDT and/or Sun Cellular or re-deploy through other service providers over 80 percent of the affected employees.  This is a master stroke of genius for the DOLE.  It allowed PLDT to execute a migration program that optimized efficiencies and improved customer experience for Digitel subscribers while providing generous packages and continued employment for a majority of the redundated employees.

Unfortunately, less than 40 radical Digitel employees are fighting management and want the DOLE to overturn its approval of the redundancy program executed last March.  If the DOLE submits to the demands of these small number of ex-Digitel employees, it would be a black eye for the Digitel subscribers now enjoying better service in PLDT, it would send the wrong signal to the business community and foreign investors, and penalize  the hundreds of Digitel employees that have received their generous packages and have gotten employment in PLDT, Sun, and other companies. 

But knowing Baldoz, she will stand by her decision which for the last few years has proven to be  correct and which  has led to the growth of Philippine business and  created millions of jobs for the Filipinos.

Standout campaign platform

Just recently, reelectionist Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party-Team PNoy was in Sariaya, Quezon and spoke with coconut farmers and coco coir factory workers after a tour of the coco coir factory of Pilipinas Eco Fiber.

Cayetano pointed out to the farmers that over the past 10 years, the coco coir industry has become a million-dollar industry for the country. It also has the potential to become a billion-dollar industry if properly developed.

The senator intently listened to the plight of Mang Eladio, a supplier of coconut husks who used to sell husks at P0.30 per piece, but now sells it for just P0.27 per piece because of the lack of demand. Mang Eladio lamented that while the country has rich natural resources, farmers like him have to bring down the price of their produce just to put food on the table.

Cayetano envisions the country to be one of the top three exporters of coco coir in the world, or at least the Coco Coir Capital of Asia.

The Sariaya sortie is part of Cayetano’s innovative “Listening Tour” that has taken him to all three major islands and even to cyberspace.

In a recent Facebook Online Town Hall meeting with call center employees and other job seekers, Cayetano pushed for increased support for the country’s emerging business process outsourcing industry as a means to solve income and employment concerns.  The online chat was streamed live on Cayetano’s Facebook and YouTube page.

Latest surveys of the Social Weather Station (SWS) have placed Cayetano firmly in the No. 12 spot of the senatorial race.

His campaign platform of “presyo, trabaho, kita” is precisely what Filipino voters want to hear. It is pro-poor and aimed mainly at ordinary folks, who make up majority of our population, who have to struggle with high prices, lack of jobs and low income.

Quiet worker in agri sector

Many party list groups elected to Congress have been disappointments. A recent study showed that quite a number of them have not pushed any bill that will serve the interest of the marginalized and under-represented sectors they represent.

But there are quite a few that have been quietly making a difference in the lives of Filipinos. One such group is Ang Agrikultura Natin Isulong or AANI.

AANI has for a decade been working to advance rural development through the empowerment of the agricultural sector. As had been reported by Jose Ramon Albert of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), agriculture is a crucial sector for reducing poverty and attaining the Millenuim Development Goals (MDGs) which includes halving the proportion of people in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 (from its level in 1990).

In the Philippines, majority of farmers are small farmers tilling less than one hectare of land. These are the farmers that comprise AANI’s members, particularly those in Mindanao.

Since its inception, AANI has addressed two main issues –access to finance and continuing education and training on the best and most sustainable farming system and methods.

AANI has been into research initiatives to find the most sustainable practices as well as alternative methods to stimulate the development of new technologies that will increase food productivity, increase resiliency against climate change while decreasing the environmental impact of the food and farming industries.

A few years ago, AANI entered into an endeavor that converts the lowly kamote into bioethanol fuel used for cooking. It has also educated farmers on the best practices to give them better yield through a daily radio show. This is on top of the regular seminars they conduct all over the country to teach farmers better and new methods to farming.

AANI has vowed to work for the passage of the Agriculture Act of 2013 that will strengthen the rights and privileges of small farmers, spearhead a bill that will enhance and strengthen the Philippine Crop Insurance Commission (PCIC), put a system in place to develop locally-manufactured farm inputs to generate employment, provide financial support or subsidy to all farmers with lands not more than seven hectares, give special re-discounting window to all farmers and put a limit to debt interest of not more than four percent per year for 10 years, and work to modernize farming methods.

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