The war on drugs in the Philippines is leaving hundreds dead in the streets.

On June 5, 2016, a
month after he was elected, Duterte stood in front of national television, outlining his plan
for cracking down on drug addicts.“Feel
free to call us, the
police, or do it yourself if you have a gun,” he said. “You have my support.”Fatal force, Duterte
told the crowd, was a reasonable response to drug addicts. “If he fights and he fights to death,
you can kill him.”“Barilin mo [shoot him] and I’ll give you a medal,” he told a cheering crowd.
“Shoot a lot and I will make you police chief,” he joked.The statement garnered
international attention and condemnation from human rights groups. Critics took this as an
incitement to violence. Apparently vigilantes did as well.For the vigilante who singled
out Manalang, there’s one fewer alleged drug dealer on the
street. The police mark the bullet casings scattered around him, photograph the crime scene,
empty his pockets for evidence, set aside the blood-splattered cardboard sign, wrap his body in a
blue tarp, and load him into a waiting ambulance.Someone
lights a candle next to the thick puddle of Manalang’s blood on
the asphalt, and one of his friends, starts up his motorcycle sidecar, still splattered with blood and
drives it away.The Philippine Daily Inquirer, a leading local newspaper is compiling
a “Kill List” of drug
-related deaths since Duterte took office. Using reports from their correspondents across the
Philippines, The Inquirer has so far counted more than 600 killings since

Duterte became president

—
either by police in drug bust operations or by vigilantes
—- that they’ve been able to
attribute the drug war.The number already represents a significant spike in violent deaths in the
Philippines. However,
Sara Pacia, one of the reporters behind the Kill List, says “the real number is much, much
higher.”According to The Inquirer’s
numbers, which are updated twice a week with fresh reports,
there’s now an average of 14 drug
-related deaths a day in the Philippines and on particularly bloody nights, it can add up to more
than 20. Less conservative estimates by other sources put the number of drug-related deaths as
high as a thousand.
Philippines’ ‘War on Drugs’
Since taking office on June 30, 2016, Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte has carried out a “war on drugs” that has led
to the deaths of over 7,000 Filipinos to date, mostly urban poor. At least 2,555 of the killings
have been attributed to the Philippine National Police. Duterte and other senior officials have
instigated and incited the killings in a campaign that could amount to crimes against
humanity.Human Rights Watch research has found that police are falsifying evidence to justify
the unlawful killings. Despite growing calls for an investigation, Duterte has vowed to continue
the campaign.Large-scale extrajudicial violence as a crime solution was a marker of

Duterte’s 22
-year tenure as mayor of Davao City and the cornerstone of his presidential campaign. On the
eve of his May 9, 2016 election victory, Duterte told a crowd of more than
300,000: “If I make it to the presidential palace I will do just
what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-
nothings, you better get out because I'll kill you.”

The Philippines’ War on

Drugs Is Really a War on the Poor Less than 50 days into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte in
the Philippines, serious concerns are being raised over the hundreds of extrajudicial killings
being perpetrated under the
administration’s watch. Some have chara
cterized the situation
as a reign of terror, while Duterte himself has declared: “I don’t care about human rights.” While
purportedly a war against
drug dealers and users, the killings not only forgo the rule of law, but entrench disadvantage
among the cou
ntry’s poor.

Duterte’s inaugural State of the Nation Address reiterated the

tough-on-crime rhetoric that propelled him to electoral victory. To many observers, the speech
was in keeping with the
president’s often meandering and contradictory public
statements. Duterte said his administration will ensure that the
“rule of law will always prevail,” but also threatened to put

drug offenders “below the ground.” The address was best understood as a continuation of
Duterte’s simplistic notion that
fighting crime means killing perpetrators. As early as 2009, Human Rights Watch documented
the activities of vigilantes dubbed the Davao Death Squad, who murdered suspects with the
complicity of local officials and police in the city in which Duterte served as mayor. These
killings were often perpetrated in broad daylight and the victims were mostly petty criminals,
gang members, and street children. Fast forward to 2016 and the images of summary executions
are again being cast against a backdrop of poverty, with the v
ictims of Duterte’s latest sanctioned killings once more coming
from the fringes of society. The key factor that has changed is that the so-
called Operation Tokhang (“knock and plead”) is
now being conducted on a nationwide scale.

from mistaken identification of victims and have also resulted in the deaths of bystanders.
Though state-sanctioned, the Tokhang operation and the associated killings clearly contravene
Article III of the
Philippines’ Bill of Rights, which provides for the presumption
of innocence until proven guilty. While supporters of the violence may claim short-term gains, it
is eroding trust between communities
—
particularly poorer ones
—
and authorities. At worst, it may embolden genuine criminal entities to escalate their own
violence against ordinary citizens and security services alike.
Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Olayres insists that he was just a pedicab driver and had no ties to the drug trade. Duterte showed
little sympathy for the grieving woman, or indeed the murdered man, in the photo. Responding to
it after it had made its way to the front page of several Philippine newspapers last week, he
instead used it as a warning. "If you don't want to die and get hurt, don't pin your hopes on
priests and human rights (groups). They can't stop death," Duterte, the straight-talking former
mayor of Davao, a restive

southern Philippines town, said last week, referring to the image. "Then you end up sprawled on
the ground and you are portrayed in a broadsheet like Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of
Jesus Christ. Well, that's very dramatic." He's doubling down on the policy, despite criticisms
that his apparent support for extrajudicial killings is leading the country down a dangerous,
lawless path. "Double your efforts. Triple them, if need be. We will not stop until the last drug
lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars -- or below the
ground, if they so wish," he said in his July 25 State of the Nation speech. On Wednesday, he
added in a speech that the reason he won by a "landslide" was the "sense of security" that he
offers. He said that the impact of drugs in the community made him "really angry. I've always
been angry, even as mayor." Adding that "it's a war, not a crisis," he asked, "why should these
people live?" Despite the bullish tone, a government spokesman insists that the Duterte
administration is against any form of extrajudicial killings.

"We do not condone these acts," Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Martin
Andanar said. "(The) government is here to save our people from the drug menace and punish
the offenders, including the big-time ones. The PNP (Philippines National Police) continues to
investigate situations involving vigilante killings and operational aspects where deaths are
reported." Gunned down and left to die in the street: A year after the Philippines began its war on
drugs which has claimed 5,000 lives, how one woman's senseless murder still has the power to
shock the country Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines a year ago, promising
a crackdown on drugs He has instructed police to shoot dealers on sight, and encourage
vigilantes to kill users living among them Since then more than 5,000 people have died in drug-
related killings, though 8,000 more are unexplained One unexplained killing is that of Kristita
Padual, 29, who was shot dead as she sat outside a nightclub WARNING: Graphic content By
Chris Pleasance for MailOn

Here is your speech on Global Warming!

Global Warming is when the earth heats up (the temperature rises). It happens when greenhouse
gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun
in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature. This hurts many people, animals, and
plants. Many cannot take the change, so they die.
Many reasons may be there for the Global Warming, Primary and main cause is considered to be
the Green House Effect. This effect is mainly caused by Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Chlorofluoro
Carbon, Nitrous oxides etc gases. These gases form a cover in the atmosphere around the Earth
through which hot rays of the Sun can enter to the Earth but cannot exit. So, the heat of the Sun
remains in the lower circle of the Earth making the temperature rise.

It is feared that the world may experience rise in temperature of about 4° to 5°C by 2050. The
average temperature of the Earth has risen by about 1°C in last five centuries and of this half of
the warming is caused in Twentieth Century alone. The Global Warming is increasing at an
alarming rate.

Global warming is affecting many parts of the world. Global warming makes the sea rise, and
when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands. This is a big problem for many of the
plants, animals, and people on islands.

Global warming is doing many things to people as well as animals and plants. It is killing algae,
but it is also destroying many huge forests. The pollution that causes global warming is linked to
acid rain. Acid rain gradually destroys almost everything it touches. Global warming is also
causing many more fires that wipe out whole forests. This happens because global warming can
make the Earth very hot. In forests, some plants and trees leaves can be so dry that they catch on
fire.

Due to the rise in average temperature of the Earth, agricultural crops, forests and life growth is
affected adversely. It also changes balanced equations of marine life. Melting of glaciers will
result in the rise of sea level posing a threat upon the habitat of coastal areas.

Because of these dangerous effects of ‘Global Warming’, at the international level measures are
taken in the form of conferences, agreements and research.

Think about a time when your car was parked in the middle of a parking lot, in the middle of the
day. The minute you opened the car door, you must have felt currents of hot air blowing past
you. The moment you sat down, you might have felt as if your car was burning the heat! This is a
small, yet effective example of a process called the GREENHOUSE EFFECT. This effect
involves a certain body of matter, be it a car, or a green house in which plants are grown, or the
earth itself GRIPPING heat or radiation from another body, in our case – the sun. In case of the
car, the glass enables the assimilation of the heat, and traps the heat inside, and does not let it
out. Similarly, the earth's atmosphere contains certain gases called GREENHOUSE GASES such
as Carbon Dioxide or water vapor or Ozone or Methane, which absorb the radiations we receive
from the sun, and trap the heat from it inside. In other words, our atmosphere, which contains the
green house gases acts like a blanket; it absorbs heat from the sun, and prevents the heat inside
from going away from the earth's surface. The more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the
more the heat gets trapped, the more the temperature rises. This phenomenon of increase in the
average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans is called GLOBAL WARMING.

So, what if the temperature rises? Due to global warming, there are serious, profound
consequences that occur. These include:

1. Increased evaporation of water, which would increase the amount of water vapor (a green
house gas) in the atmosphere, making the process of global warming even worse.

2. Heightened melting of the icebergs and glaciers in the Arctic Ocean and the icecaps and
mountain snows of Antarctica, which will result in the rise in sea level.

3. Expansion of water on heating, which means the sea level, will further rise due to higher
temperatures.

4. Organisms of certain species becoming extinct because they are being forced out of their
habitats.

5. Warmer, wetter weather could increase the spread of malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever.
The possible increase in flooding and damage to water and sewage infrastructure can further
encourage the spread of disease.

And many other life-threatening consequences.

So, what's happening right now? Global warming has caused a 1 degree Celsius increase in
average global temperature since 1880. This does not seem like a very high increase considering
the time period however, due to the increase in the percentage of greenhouse gases because of
industrialization and pollution, scientists expect the average global temperature to go up about
1.4 – 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100, and the sea level to rise 15 – 95 centimeters. Experts also
expect the Arctic Ocean to have ice-free summers by 2040, or earlier.

Other effects of global warming include polar bears and other organisms that live in cold
temperatures suffering from a sea-ice loss. A certain species of Penguins has become endangered
because global warming has caused a 22% decrease in their population. At least 70 species of
frogs have gone extinct as a result of global warming. The number of Bengal Tigers in
Bangladesh is projected to decrease as a result of rising sea levels. Apart from that, the
hurricanes we are seeing are a direct result of climate change which is something that's caused
due to global warming.
So… what can we do to stop or decrease global warming? One obvious way of decreasing the
effect of global warming is by drastically cutting down on the greenhouse gas emissions. The
amount of CO2 that is being produced by burning fossil fuels or by factory activities or processes
is more than the amount of carbon dioxide that is being used up by plants. So, the lesser the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, the lesser the green house effect will be. By planting more
trees and reducing deforestation, we can effectively get rid of the existing CO2 present in the
atmosphere.

If we use alternatives sources of energy instead of fossil fuels, we can reduce the greenhouse gas
emissions. Using recycled paper would help prevent deforestation, consequently decreasing
CO2. When you have a car or a motorbike, get it checked positive for PUC. Repeat the
procedure every 6 months.

Biodegradation of plastic materials in landfills emit greenhouse gases. So, say NO to plastic
bags. When you go to the store, take your own bag, either paper bags or bags made out of jute.
Try your best to use as little plastic as you can. Try to recycle paper instead of disposing them.
When possible, use recycled paper.

When you are not using appliances such as your computer or you’re TV or radio or your DVD
player, turn them off instead of leaving them on standby. Shutting those off would reduce the
machine's CO2 emissions.

In the end, the best way to help is by spreading awareness. Tell everyone you know about the
greenhouse effect and global warming. Make them see what is at stake, and ask them to help you
save our planet.

Schools need leaders with a vision for improving the school’s learning environment within a
well-functioning school-based management (SBM) system. SBM involves setting school
directions concerning students, teacher development, and allocation of material and financial
resources. Effective SBM impacts motivation, commitment, and student and teacher success by:
facilitating school leadership that is both appropriate to the unique context and needs of the
school community, developing and implementing school improvement plans, establishing fair
and effective teacher appraisal systems, structuring classrooms and schools according to school
needs, building partnerships with the community, and ensuring that frameworks exist to support
the functions of other school departments and personnel.

Issues and Discussion

School managers’ preparation and leadership: School managers can positively contribute to
school effectiveness when they are prepared and able to use extensive leadership knowledge to
solve complex school-based problems, and to build trust through working relationships with
school staff, parents, students, and the community.(3)(8) Managers can have different and
overlapping management styles including instructional, transformational, and distributed
leadership, with each style having an influence on student outcomes and how teachers respond to
leadership.(3)(8) However, it is important that school managers lead in a way that is appropriate
to the school culture and context, that they be given opportunities for management support
training, and that their performance be appraised by school inspectors, municipalities, or other
boards that provide oversight on school management quality.(3)(8) School managers who model
strong instructional leadership focus on planning, evaluation, coordination, and improvement of
teaching in order to achieve positive student learning outcomes.(8) School managers need to
assess student and teacher performance and lead in a way that is culturally and pedagogically
responsive to student’ and teacher’ strengths and needs.(8)

School improvement plans: Effective school managers design a school improvement process to
guide their work.(2)(8) School improvement plans (also called school development plans) can
provide such a process because they are strategic and based on a scanning of the school
environment and the conditions that are faced.(1)(2) School improvement plans should prioritise
goals and objectives, identify strategic actions to achieve school goals, and include a set of
methods for monitoring, implementing, and evaluating the strategies.(1)(2)(8) In particular, they
may outline strategies for improving student performance in targeted subject areas, recommend
particular types of assessments for teachers to measure student performance over time, and
indicate when and for how long strategies should be implemented.(1)(8) The development of
school plans is a collaborative process between school professionals and councils, parents, and
other community stakeholders, and the results should be made accessible (in hard copy or online)
to the public as a form of accountability.(1)(2)(3)

Teacher appraisal: Another function accomplished by school managers is regular teacher

appraisal.(8) A teacher appraisal framework makes evaluation fair by clearly defining roles,
responsibilities and procedures, and includes multiple forms of measurement such as teacher
portfolios, classroom observations, and surveys and/or administrator and peer assessments.(8)
School professionals should have a clear rationale for choosing assessment measures, and should
be cautious about using forms of teacher appraisal that can place too much value on student’s
standardized test scores.(3)

Other management functions: Other aspects of schools require a clear management framework
including maintaining school libraries and storerooms, addressing school health and safety
issues, and managing school-based funding and accounting.(5)(6) The management of school
funding has a particular relationship to learning outcomes, since high performing schools tend to
focus resources on the areas of greatest learning needs, including individual attention for students
to learn core subjects and extra support to improve teachers’ effectiveness.(5)(6)

School-community partnerships: SBM is effective when a school-based committee or department

has been formed for the purpose of assessing school and community needs, engaging the
community, building partnerships, managing resources, and providing incentives and training to
build partnership capacity.(3)(4)(8)(9)

School clusters: Rural or low-resourced schools may be grouped into school clusters in order to
pull resources together for the purpose of improving the quality of teaching and learning. The
management of a school cluster includes similar roles and responsibilities as in individual
schools, however, additional leadership through a committee or a more experienced lead
administrator will be needed at the cluster level to manage and oversee curriculum delivery and
evaluation across school sites.(2)(4)(8)(9) The decision to form a cluster should be based on an
assessment of school needs and shared goals across school sites for developing the
cluster.(2)(4)(9) Forming a cluster can include mapping activities to identify schools that are
self-sufficient and may not require inclusion, determining accessibility issues and the spatial
distribution of schools in the network to identify a centralized location for a teacher resource
centre.(2)(4) Trained staff for managing teacher resource centre activities including providing
support, training, and resources to teachers is also important for effective management of a
school cluster.(2)(4)(9)

Inclusiveness and Equity

Disadvantaged Students: School managers play a key role in promoting educational equity for
disadvantaged students.(7) Some SBM policies that benefit disadvantaged students include
prioritising school-community partnerships, improving teacher retention by identifying and
eliminating barriers for teacher attrition, and school capacity building through leadership
preparation programmes and quality mentoring, professional networks, and infrastructure.(

Everyone loves taking shortcuts. Not just in literal sense but in a metaphoric way. The time has
passed when people used to rely on each other to get a conspicuous thing done. Now the
technology does the majority of work on behalf of us. From colossally advanced gadgetry to
largely imaginative softwares, it is hard to predict what might be next in store for us.
For now we have in abundance extremely beneficial techno stuff which includes web based
school management software.

Managing schools, colleges or any other educational institution used to be a tedious task
considering lots of manpower had to be employed and likewise day to day tasks had to be carried
out. Today though, computer devices and Internet schlep most of the baggage and ease up the
workload for the staff as well as the teachers and the students. And in spite of all the benefits a
School Management Software possess, its significance isn’t restricted to just that much portion.
Counting the fierce competition in the Educational sector and the rapidly expanding online
gateways, the requirement for School ERP software has grown exponentially.

Over the last few years, a lot of research has been conducted in order to get a glimpse at the
management of schools all around the globe. After an approximate 1800 observations, the end
result was that virtuous practices mattered a lot for the betterment of the school. Ameliorating the
management even up to 10% could amplify GCSE percentage by a substantial margin. This
certitude highlights the direct relationship in between the School Management and the students
which was found in almost every surveyed country.

School ERP’s potential is not bounded till shunning the daily tasks from the administration but
most importantly it enhances the performance of the students through interactive methods of
learning which the management has to be responsible for. It is essential for them to come up with
something new on timely basis through an effective amalgamation of technology and innovation.
The online school management software has standardized the level of education by tranquillizing
all the processes and giving the students more time to invest in doing other activities such as
having direct interaction with teachers on discuss forums and thus building better relationship
and ultimately, boosting their morale’s.

Also, we often see the difference in the level of schooling but never properly think about it as to
why the performance of a School isn’t up to the mark. Reason being the school doesn’t provide
the students with advanced technology which not only grabs their attention but make them feel
like enjoying studying.

As a result, it is of utmost importance that School Management System should be implemented

in all the schools. Things aren’t always dark and dingy. Instead of blaming our government for
the education system, we should be focusing on changing ourselves with the world and rendering
services that are beneficial for the Gen X. ‘Smart 5.0’ is the best School Administration and
Management software i.e. the first preference of numerous top tier schools and educational
institutions

Types of Employment in the Philippines

Employment in the Philippines Overview
Depending on the company and/or industry, there are various types or categories of employment
in the Philippines. This essentially comes down to how the employer wants the employee’s
employment to be structured, which should be bound by a contract signed by both the employer
and employee.

Project Employment
Where the employment has been fixed for a specific project or undertaking, the completion or
termination of which has been determined at the time of the engagement of the employee in the
Philippines.

Seasonal Employment
Where the work or services to be performed is seasonal in nature and the employment is for the
duration of the season in the Philippines.

Casual Employment
Where the employment is not covered by the foregoing, provided that an employee who has
rendered at least one year of service, whether continuous or broken, shall be considered regular
with respect to the activity in which he or she is employed and his or her employment shall
continue while the activity exists.

Term or Fixed Employment

Another category of employment in the Philippines recognized in jurisprudence is “term” or
“fixed-period employment.” This is based on Art. 1193 of the CC, which states that obligations
with a resolutory period take effect at once, but terminate upon arrival of the day certain –
understood to be a day that must necessarily come. The decisive determinant in “term
employment” should not be the activities that the employee is called upon to perform, but the
day certain agreed upon by the parties for the commencement and termination of the
employment relationship. Stipulations in employment contracts providing for “term
employment” or “fixed-period employment” are valid when the period has been agreed upon
knowingly and voluntarily by the parties, without force, duress or improper pressure exerted on
the employee, and when such stipulations were not designed to circumvent the laws on security
of tenure.

Probationary Employment
Probationary employment is not necessarily a category of employment in the Philippines. It
pertains to a period of time in which the employee is being observed and evaluated to determine
whether or not he is qualified for permanent employment. Under Art. 281 of the LC,
probationary employment shall not exceed six months. An employee who is allowed to work
after a probationary period shall be considered a regular employee. A probationary employee is,
for a given period of time, under observation and evaluation to determine whether or not he or
she is qualified for permanent employment. During the probationary period, the employer is
given the opportunity to observe the skills, competence, and attitude of the employee while the
latter seeks to prove to the employer that he or she has the qualifications to meet the reasonable
standards for permanent employment.

The Philippines is a country that has one of the biggest available pools of qualified workers
(aged 15–64) in the world in absolute terms which ranks 13th largest in the world behind
countries like Vietnam, Japan, and Mexico. In 2010 its people qualified for work had reached
55.5M.[1] On its working age group’s ratio to the country’s total population, it ranks 147th[2] at
61%, bordering the middle and bottom third of the world ranking, by virtue of its relatively large
population of elderly and children combined.

With this large pool of available workers, the Philippines has more than 38M people that belong
to the labor force which is one of the largest in the world almost making it to the top ten
notwithstanding a relatively mediocre participation rate of 64.5%.[3] The labor force has
consistently grown by an average 2% for the past three years. This labor force is dominated by
people that have an educational attainment below the tertiary level which make up 71%.[3]

Employment
Out of this labor force 36.2M[4] Filipinos are employed and this number has been increasing by
an average of more than 2% in the last three years. This proportion of employed working people
in the Philippines constitutes 59%[3] of the population, a relatively large percentage that belongs
to the upper-third in the world ranking. The Philippines ranks relatively low in its employed
worker-to-GDP ratio with only $8,260[5] which hints about the country’s productivity issues.
Nevertheless, this GDP per employed worker has been growing by an average of 3% over the
last decade.

Most of these employed workers are in the field of Services (50%), followed by Agriculture
(34%) and Industry (15%) with the lowest share.[4] There has been a considerable employment
growth in each of the Services and Industry sector of about 4% since 2009 while employment in
the Agricultural sector has been fluctuating. A large portion of these employed workers are
salary/wage workers and then followed by self-employed people.
Unemployment and under-employment
Meanwhile, there are about 2.7M Filipinos[6] that are unemployed which constitutes about 7.4%
of the labor force. This is the lowest rate the Philippines enjoys since 1996, before the country
suffered from the Asian Financial Crisis. After unemployment rate peaked in 2000,[7] it has been
on a steep decline by an average of 8.5% each year through to 2010. Out of this unemployed
group of workers, 88% is roughly split between people who at least had a high school or a
college education.[6]

A large proportion of college graduates are nursing graduates whose numbers now sum up to
about 200,000 according to a report by Philippine Nurses Association.[8] As of 2011, it is
estimated that about 7M are underemployed . It went back up after it fell in 2010 at 6.5M.
Visibly underemployed people, people working less than 40 hours per week, cover 57% while
the rest is made up by Invisible underemployed people, those who work over 40 hours per week
but wants more hours.[6]

Labor issues
Output growth and employment

In the past years, the GDP of the Philippines had grown steadily from 2001 to 2004. Though
there was a slowdown in 2005-2006, there was high growth again in 2006 which was interrupted
only by the onset of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.[9] During these periods of growth,
there was a slower pace of growth in employment. This "lagging" may be due to the extreme
weather disturbances the country experienced. Considering that a large part of the labor force is
employed in agriculture, this is valid. Another reason is the difference between GDP and
employment with respect to their sectoral structures. Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector
contribute only less than one-fifth (16.8%) in the country’s GDP in 2010 considering that one
third (33.2%) of the total employed is working in this sector.This lagging could also be viewed
with distinction to full-time and part-time employment. "In 2009 for instance, employment grew
by 2.9% despite the slowdown in GDP to 1.1%. But the growth in employment occurred almost
entirely among part-time workers (8.4%) while full-time employment actually fell (-0.5%).".[10]

Labor productivity

Total Factor Productivity (TFP), the efficiency in use of both labor and capital, is important
because labor income depends on labor productivity growth. This growth is the average product
of labor which correlates with labor’s contribution to enterprise revenue and profits.
Improvements in workers’ real wages and earnings is related to labor productivity growth and
not exactly to employment growth. Improvements in real wages, improves the poverty incidence
of the people thus helping in poverty reduction. Canlas, Aldaba Esguerra argues that
policymakers should have a good understanding of the sources of TFP because sustainable
growth comes from rising TFP growth. "One key factor is educated labor, which has the capacity
to invent, innovate, and master new techniques." At the long run, it is important to educate the
population and invest in human development and research and development to improve TFP. But
there should be care in this issue as there is the so-called job mismatch which will be discussed
later. Canlas, Aldaba, Esguerra advise that to raise TFP growth, monetary policy and fiscal
policy should stabilize a predictable environment for the private sector.[11]

Underemployment, overseas employment

With the declining earnings, people are looking for additional hours of work (underemployed),
or going abroad (overseas employment) or choose to be self-employed. This also shows how
they are not content with the quality of employment. The self-employed are actually indifferent
between the wage employment and self-employment that they decided to be on their own.[11]
This makes them, together with the unpaid family workers, part of the vulnerable employment
and its earnings is weak compared to the wage one. On the other hand, they can be overseas
Filipino workers. In 2009, it was reported that 1.423 million Filipinos were deployed
overseas.[12] This mitigates the unemployment problem but also poses moral hazard problems,
reducing labor force participation in the family.[11]

Youth unemployment, job and skill mismatch, educated unemployed

In 2010, half of the 2.9 million unemployed Filipinos were age 15-24.[12] More than half of the
unemployed youth are stuck due to lack of job opportunities, lack of skills and the competition
with older ones. This lack of training and skills and incompetence may be due to poor education,
which shows that indeed, education must be improved.[11] On the other hand, there’s the job and
skill mismatch. Even with the high unemployment rate, there are actually jobs that are not filled
because there are no applicants who have the right qualifications.[12] The improvement of
education must be well-thought so that it corresponds with what the labor market needs. There
must be attention given to the technical and vocational education of labor. The government
should cooperate with the private sector for better information regarding the labor demand.[11]
From this job mismatch problem also arises the educated unemployed. In 2010, the
unemployment rate among the college educated is about 11%. Some are having difficulty in
finding appropriate job for the degree they have. Others on the other hand, have higher
reservation wages and can afford to wait for better opportunities.[12]

Balance between workers' welfare and employment generation

In the past decades, the Philippines experienced that having policies that are biased on workers’
welfare and protection may hinder employment creation. Sound policies that improves the
condition of employment and workers’ welfare without resulting into too much increase in labor
costs would be better. The consequences of a rigid labor market due to undue intervention may
result in lower investments and thus, slower growth.[11]

Labor Code of the Philippines

Main article: Labor Code of the Philippines

The Labor Code of the Philippines governs employment practices and labor relations in the
Philippines. It also identifies the rules and standards regarding employment such as pre-
employment policies, labor conditions, wage rate, work hours, employee benefits, termination of
employees, and so on. Under the regime of the President [Ferdinand Marcos], it was
promulgated in May 1. 1974 and took effect November 1, 1974, six months after its
promulgation.[13]

Pre-employment policies

Minimum employable age

The minimum age for employment is 18 years old and below that age is not allowed. Persons of
age 15 to 18 can be employed given that they work in non-hazardous environments.[14]

Overseas employment

As for overseas employment of Filipinos, foreign employers are not allowed to directly hire
Philippine nationals except through board and entities authorized by the Secretary of Labor.
Travel agencies also cannot transact or help in any transactions for the employment or placement
of Filipino workers abroad. Once Filipinos have a job in a foreign country, they are required to
remit or send a portion of their income to their families, dependents, and/or beneficiaries in the
Philippines.[14][not in citation given]

Regulation on conditions of employment

Minimum wage rate

Minimum wage rates in the Philippines vary from region to region, with boards established for
each region to monitor economic activity and adjust minimum wages based on growth rates,
unemployment rates, and other factors.[15] The minimum wage rate for Non-Agriculture
employees, in Manila region, established under Wage Order No. NCR 15 is P404 per day, but in
May 9, 2011, a (cost of living allowance) of P22 per day was added to P404 wage, making the
minimum wage P426. COLA was also added to the previous P367 minimum wage for the
following sectors: Agriculture, Private Hospitals (with bed capacity of 100 or less), and
manufacturing establishments (with less than 10 workers), leaving the sectors with P389 as
minimum wage.[16] The 426 combined rate is locally referred to in the Philippines as "Manila
Rate" due to this regional disparity.[15]

Regular work hours and rest periods

Normal hours of work. - The normal hours of work of any employee shall not exceed eight (8)
hours a day.

Health personnel in cities and municipalities with a population of at least one million (1,000,000)
or in hospitals and clinics with a bed capacity of at least one hundred (100) shall hold regular
office hours for eight (8) hours a day, for five (5) days a week, exclusive of time for meals,
except where the exigencies of the service require that such personnel work for six (6) days or
forty-eight (48) hours, in which case, they shall be entitled to an additional compensation of at
least thirty percent (30%) of their regular wage for work on the sixth day. For purposes of this
Article, "health personnel" shall include resident physicians, nurses, nutritionists, dietitians,
pharmacists, social workers, laboratory technicians, paramedical technicians, psychologists,
midwives, attendants and all other hospital or clinic personnel.

Meal periods. - Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe, it shall be
the duty of every employer to give his employees not less than sixty (60) minutes time-off for
their regular meals.

Rest days

All employees have the right to have a 24 consecutive hours of rest day after every 6 days of
work. Employers are responsible for determining and scheduling the rest day of employees
except only if the employee prefers a different day based on religious grounds. However, the
employer may require an employee to work during his/her rest day in cases of emergencies,
special circumstances at work in which employees are seriously needed, to prevent losses or
damage to any goods or to the employer, and other cases that have reasonable grounds.[14]

Nightshift differential and overtime

Employees are also given additional wages for working in night shifts. The night shift starts from
10 o’clock in the evening until 6 o’clock in the morning, and employees will receive 10% more
of his/her regular wage rate. Overtime work for employees (beyond 8 hours) are allowed and
workers shall be paid with his/her regular wage plus an additional 25% of the regular wage per
hour worked or 30% during holidays or rest days.[14]

Household helpers

Household helpers, or maids, are common in the Philippines. Household helpers deliver services
at the employer’s home, attending to the employer’s instructions and convenience. The minimum
wage of household helpers is P800 per month for some cities in Metro Manila, while a lower
wage is paid to those outside of Metro Manila,. However, most household helpers receive more
than the minimum wage; employers usually give wages ranging from P2,500 and above per
month. On top of that, employers are required to provide food, sanitary lodging, and just
treatment to the household helper.[14]

Post-employment
Termination by employer

The employer has the right to terminate an employee due to the following reasons: serious
misconduct or disobedience to the employer, neglect of duties or commission of a crime by the
employee, and such gives the employer a just case to terminate the services of the employee.[14]

Retirement

The retirement age for an employee depends on the employment contract. Upon retirement, the
retired employee should be given his/her benefits according to the agreement or contract between
the employer and the employee. However, if there is no existing retirement plan or agreement for
the employee, he/she may retire at the age of 60, given that he/she has served the employer for 5
years, and shall be given a retirement pay of at least half a month’s salary for every year of
service ( 6 months of work given is considered as 1 whole year for the retirement pay).[14]

Labor market institutions

Government

The Philippine government greatly affects the labor market through its policies and
interventions. It plays a role in job creation through generating a formidable environment for
investment; in ensuring the workers’ welfare through policies like the Labor Code; in improving
the education of the labor; in informing regarding the jobs available to match the skills of the
people; in implementing expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to reduce unemployment
rate. Though, there must be care in using fiscal and monetary policies because it may result in
high inflation rate in the long-run.[11] Below are some government agencies concerned with the
labor market.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

Main article: Department of Labor and Employment (Philippines)

Founded on December 8, 1933, DOLE is the government agency overseeing the labor market of
the Philippines. It is tasked to implement the Labor Code and other labor and employment-
related policies of the government. They have different programs for job generation, skills
training for workers, job fairs and placements, for overseas workers, and others that helps
enhance the labor market of the Philippines.[17]

Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES)

Under the DOLE, BLES gathers data and research regarding the labor market. These statistics
are important in making sound policies (Aldaba, Canlas,Esguerra). One example of data is that
regarding job vacancies. One reason of vacancies in spite of unemployment is that people do not
know where to look for the right job. BLES gather information on vacancies and applicants and
submit this to DOLE for dissemination.[18]
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)

Main article: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), under the supervision of
DOLE, is the government agency mandated to oversee the development of technical education
and skills development (TESD) of the labor force of the Philippines. TESDA aims to train skilled
workers especially on technical and vocational services in which our country is lacking.[19]

CORRUPTION

It’s natural to think of elections when we think of political corruption. People or organisations
with their own agendas can skew voting. They may secretly give parties big donations. Or parties
and candidates can buy votes instead of winning them.

But political corruption isn’t just about election rigging. It can lead politicians in office to steer
away from good government. Their decisions can benefit those who fund them. The public
interest comes second. Political corruption can divert scarce resources from poor and
disadvantaged people. This is especially common in countries where democratic institutions are
weak or absent. Private rather than public interests dictate policy.

This means an ethical line has been crossed. Governments can’t act freely and democracy can’t
function. Our trust in politicians is damaged. We can turn away from involvement with how
we’re governed. Then political corruption continues unchecked. The solution?

Political corruption can feel daunting and remote. So can we really do anything about it? If we
speak out about how we’re governed, we can.

We need to call on our politicians and public officials to be accountable for their actions. How
can we trust them if we don’t know what they’re doing? We must demand that they put in place
regulations which will force them to act openly. Then corruption can’t hide. And our trust in the
political process will improve. When leaders act transparently, showing us clearly what they do,
we can make informed choices when we vote. And we can hold them to account once elected.

From grassroots groups to big organisations, civil society has a crucial role to play. We can
monitor electoral campaigns and parties’ activities. If state resources are abused, we must report
it. And if regulations to prevent corruption aren’t in place, we must demand them. Rules about
politicians’ conflicts of interest, for example. Or regulations to stop corporate lobbying and
political funding from distorting the democratic process. If companies publish their donations,
they can show their contributions aren’t intended to win favours.