Forty Years Ago, the Peso Had a High Value
Posted on Thursday, 19 May 2016
Forty Years Ago, the Peso Had a High Value
By Apolinario Villalobos
When I joined PAL in 1976 assigned in
Romblon (Tablas station), my pay was less than Php500/month but I still had
enough savings left for my sister who was in college, to cover a portion of her
allowance. I recall the US dollar to be something like Php3.80 to a peso, and
it was at par with the Hongkong dollar or Php1 to HKD1. I was not interested to
know the minimum wage during that time, as I was happily and contentedly
working with the country’s flag carrier.
But when I joined its Tours and Promotions Division for which I was
relocated to Manila, after less than a year, my pay was increased to Php1,408.00/month.
Those days were part of the Marcos “regime”.
My point here is that, the Philippine peso
value has deteriorated drastically so that to date, a dollar is equivalent to
the fluctuating value of the US dollar between Php45 to Php46. The head of the
family has to have a gross earning of at least Php40,000/month to cover the
expenses for food, lodging rent, water, electricity, transportation to the job
site, clothing, and education. That estimate is even conservative for a decent
life of one family with 4 members. In that estimate, the emergency expenses for
hospitalization and medicines are not yet included.
Many would ask then, how could a family in
Manila, whose breadwinner’s take home pay of less than Php10,000/month survive?
The answer is by “scrimping” and through “resourcefulness”… by having only 2
pieces of pan de sal for each member for
breakfast and a mug of coffee shared among them in which each member dip the
bread, with the youngest having the
privilege of gulping the last drop. Lunch for the members of the family left at
home is a plate or two of cold or burnt rice bought at half the price of the
newly-cooked, drenched with instant noodle soup – one sachet cooked in two to
three cups of water. Meanwhile, the head of the family at the job site is
contented with the half portions of rice and viand, usually vegetable. Dinner for the whole family is whatever
salvaged wilted vegetables begged from stall owners cooked with fish heads or
just flavored with “bagoong”. At night there is only one 10-watt light bulb
used to light the room where the family lives. Water is fetched from a common
manual pump three blocks away, or purchased at Php15 per “container” – used for
drinking and the rest of basic uses, such as washing dishes, clothes, bath,
etc.
In time, changes as a “universal rule” have
to happen throughout the world including the monetary power of all nations. But
very obvious is the occurrence of drastic changes in Philippines at a very
sweeping pace. And, even without my mentioning it, the evident unrelenting corruption
in the government is the greatest factor in the country’s economic deterioration.
In this view, no GDP (gross domestic product) report that supposedly shows the
economic growth of the country can change the landscape of poverty in the
Philippines as the benefits are not felt by the impoverished.
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