The decision to privatize 137 state properties threatens jobs of thousands of employees, the group says
A general view of a slum area along the river in Manila on March 18, 2020. The Emmanuel Community Hospital in Tondo of Manila which serves the poor is among 137 state properties listed for privatization in 2023. (Photo: AFP)
The largest labor coalition in the Philippines has called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ensure job security for thousands of employees as the government plans to sell some 137 ‘idle’ state properties to private organizations.
“We call on the President to lay down concrete plans on how privatization would take place considering it would affect our workers’ lives and the future of their families,” Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said in a statement on June 5.
The group slammed the secretary of the country’s Department of Finance (DOF), Benjamin Diokno, who announced the plan of privatizing 137 properties in 2023.
Diokno said the government will sell properties worth about 2.5 billion peso (US$50 million) this year, Philippine New Agency (PNA) reported on June 5.
“The aggressive disposition of non-performing assets will provide much-needed revenues for priority projects. It will also clear the National Government’s books of stagnant assets,” PNA quoted Diokno as saying.
The labor group said the DOF did not consider the plight of the employees of the state properties to be impacted by the change in ownership.
“Privatization always comes with a price, most of the time, to the disadvantage of the working sector. We hope the new corporations will honor the work contracts of those who have spent decades working in those government assets eyeing to be sold,” the coalition added.
Among the properties listed for sale are the Emmanuel Community Hospital Inc. in Tondo, Manila; Central Bank Board of Liquidators in Antipolo City; 21 lots of Technology Resource Center; Elorde Sports and Tourism Development Corporation; Technology Resource Center in Visayas; NAFCO lots affected by the High Priority Bus System project; and Wright Patterson Manufacturing Corporation.
The labor group claimed some 400 employees have expressed fear about a possible loss of jobs due to the decision.
“So far only the selling is clear but how about the employees whose tenure has been secured? Will they enjoy certain retirement or severance packages?”, Aileen Gruba, 45, an employee at the Technological Research Center in the Visayas region, asked UCA News.
Gruba said the government’s action for privatization was “aggressive” without looking at the welfare of its employees.
“Where will we go? Will private companies as new owners honor our work contracts?” she asked.
Lorenzo Malaya, a caregiver from the Emmanuel Community Hospital in Tondo, one of the poorest areas in Manila, said once the facility becomes private the poor won’t be able to afford the medical costs. Presently, the hospital offers services for a token fee.
“Our relevance in the community is that we are helping the poor in one of the capital’s poorest. Privatization means they should pay [higher] fees for the services, which the poor cannot afford,” Malaya told UCA News.
Former lawmaker and labor rights lawyer Neri Colmenares questioned the privatization of a community hospital and the sale of 3.46 percent government shares in a transport corporation.
He said the government should prioritize improving health services and service utilities instead of privatizing them.
“Our experience as a nation is not very good if we privatize government corporations and assets. Water and electric bills are up because private corporations are running the show. Transportation costs are up because of the same reason,” Colmenares added.
DOF secretary Diokno said from 2019-2021, the government sold assets worth 664 million peso.
Two former employees of state-run corporations that were privatized claimed they did not receive due compensation.
Martin Duenas, 46, a former supervisor of Integrated Feed Mills Corp., which is now privatized corporation in Davao City in the Mindanao region, said he received half of the compensation he deserved.
"I served for 18 years but the pay that I received was computed only half of the number of years rendered. There was no explanation given only that it was a severance package," Duenas told UCA News.
Duenas, a father of three, said it took him six months before he got a consultancy job in a private company where the salary was lower.
"I was not even a regular employee but only a project-based employee in my new job. After all the years of experience, this is where I ended," he added.
Former Amaya Bank manager, Marinelle Lichauco, 46, said her dismissal forced her to sell some of the family property for survival.
"I didn't expect the effect would lead me to sell some properties. My children were in college when the government decided to sell the company. It took two years before I got another job," Lichauco told UCA News.
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