Standardizing the Wage Shall Discourage the Influx of Job Seekers in Urban Areas
Posted on Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Standardizing
the Wage Shall Discourage
The Influx
of Job Seekers in Urban Areas
By Apolinario Villalobos
Obviously, the regional wage boards are not
doing their job as they have no realistic data on the real situation in the
provinces, such as prices of prime commodities that are the same as with
Manila’s, also those of education, rental, and many others. The wage issue has
been the most neglected since the First Republic. Until today, the labor
sector’s cries are not heeded, to give it a serious consideration. As these
inutile regional wage boards are useless, they should be removed from the
government system, as the people behind them just add to the expenses of the
government spending.
The primary reason why job seekers flock to
Manila and other urban areas, is the lure of the high wage. A regular employee
for instance in the province, earns 6thousand pesos a month, compared to the
more than 10thousand pesos of those Manila, and there is still the opportunity
of side jobs to augment the take home pay.
The cost of education in Manila is no different from the one in the
province, and the student can still work as a service crew in a fast food chain
to earn additional allowance. With those situations, the resourceful
provinciano can definitely live in Manila with comfort.
The local governments can do their share in
enticing investors by offering attractive investment packages. Between Manila
and the laid back atmosphere of the provinces, for sure, investors shall choose
the latter due to the absence of traffic and clean air. There is no longer a
problem with the transportation being an important aspect for commerce, as
practically, major provinces, and all cities have airports and those in the
coastal areas have safe ports served by Ro-Ro’s and major shipping lines. One
can practically leave Manila on a bus and reach Davao or Cagayan de Oro, still
on the same bus. Thanks to the intricate transport system which got launched
during the incumbency of Gloria Arroyo.
Manila is practically breaking at the
seams, giving the national government a headache on how to eliminate depressed
areas where many city employees live. The problem with the government is that,
it will embark only on projects that are “beneficial” to the corrupt officials.
They always think of infrastructures that are heavy with “built-in”
commissions. The fact is that, infrastructures are not always the solution to
labor and poverty problems. The issue is the WAGE, for which is needed a
truthful and serious study….unfortunately, this effort does not promise a fat
commission.
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