UP Forum May-June 2012

FORUMthe UniveRsity OF the PhiliPPines

Volume 13 Number 3 may - JuNe 2012

By Maragtas s.v. Amante

REVIEWING, p. 2

Reviewing the UP human resources plantilla

Based on the key points on operational excellence as explained by President Alfredo

Pascual in his investiture speech in September 2011, administrative efficiency could be achieved through effective human resources management. The latter requires matching skills to tasks, reasonable working hours, compensation of work beyond the call of duty, rewarding excellent performance, providing a suitable work environment and granting equitable employee benefits.

Becoming the country’s leader in achieving a just and equitable employment relations system, according to President Pascual, is another way of

realizing goals toward administrative efficiency. This means addressing housing and health care concerns of faculty and staff and establishing a more effective way of resolving grievances and implementing social contracts. These are the guideposts of the university’s efforts to achieve operational excellence through adequate pay and benefits or compensation for the faculty and staff.

Operational excellence and its key pillar, administrative efficiency, could be achieved through seemingly simple technical operations: (a) improvements in the quality, quantity and value

of output; (b) improvements in the quality or reduction of the value or quantity of inputs; or (c) a programmed, targeted synergy of improvements in both output and input. These operations must be translated into what the university stakeholders could implement.

The UP’s Personnel Services (PS) or payroll budget in the 2011 General Appropriations Act (GAA) stood at P5.296 billion. The payroll budget is 86 percent of the total GAA budget of P6.176 billion. With a total headcount of 12,355 personnel, the average monthly payroll is P35,721 per faculty

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING

2 FORUM May-June 2012

REVIEWING, from p. 1

REVIEWING, p. 3

UP Vice-President Maragtas Amante (5th from left) with the staff of the Office of the Vice-President for Administration at Quezon Hall, UP Diliman

The university’s efforts

to improve the level of

compensation is tied to the

quality of its people—the

core academic and support

staff who include the

administrative employees

and the research, extension

and professional staff

(REPS).

and staff. The university’s efforts to improve

the level of compensation is tied to the quality of its people—the core academic and support staff who include the administrative employees and the research, extension and professional staff (REPS). An important platform to identify the methods to achieve operational excellence will be the structure of the people working in UP, known as the personnel item plantilla which is the job and pay plan. To tackle the issue of compensation, benefits and welfare, it is important first to grasp the basic personnel data and the underlying structures and relationships, on how to move forward.

Table 1 (p. 3) provides an indication of the available quantity of people working in the university. The data is now being updated, based on the personnel headcount in 2011. The total headcount includes both the regular and the non-regular faculty and staff—a total of 12,355 people working in the university in its 15 campuses. There are 3,544 faculty members (29 percent); 1,067 REPS (9 percent); and the bulk are administrative people (62 percent). The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) of UP Manila has a special status in the university—the hospital employees constitute 29 percent of the university workforce. Please note that for every faculty member, there is 1.46 support staff (if UP PGH is included in the calculation, the faculty to staff ratio shoots up to 2.5 staff for every faculty member).

The compensation of the regular faculty and staff is in the plantilla budget or the Department of Budget and Management’s Personnel Services Itemization Plantilla of Personnel (DBM PSIPOP), a rather unwieldy name for what everyone knows as the payroll. The non-regular employees are paid through the personnel services (PS) lump sum budget. Regular employees have permanent status and benefits. Tenure means they are permanent un t i l t he compul so ry retirement age and could only be removed for cause as part of a disciplinary process. On the other hand, the non-regular employees are temporary, casual or on some other form of fixed-term employment. They are also provided most of the benefits if there are funds available from savings. Non-regular employees a r e a l s o g o v e r n m e n t employees occupying non-plantilla positions and whose security of tenure depends on a contract o f s e rv i ce . They a r e commonly referred to as contractual, casual or co-terminus employees.

The phenomenon of “permanent casuals or contractual employees” is pervasive in many government agencies and the UP is not an exemption. Steps are now being taken to regularize the deserving contractual employees who match the merit qualifications and requirements of the civil service.

A special category of the flexible workforce in the university also includes Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) employees; talents; job orders; or non-UP or non-government workers. They may include project consultants. The rules of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) provide that a

“contract of service” refers to the engagement of the services of a person to undertake a specific work or job requiring special or technical skills not available in the agency to be accomplished within a specified period not exceeding one year. The person performs or accomplishes the specific work or job under his or her own responsibility and with minimum supervision by the hiring agency. Many MoA employees sign a waiver for “employer-employee” relations to quit any claims for benefits such as bonuses, merit incentives or other allowances enjoyed by the regular employees—a blatant form of labor discrimination and exploitation which must be eliminated in the university. (See Table 2, p. 3.)

Existing policies: UP’s compensation and personnel

UP’s pay system complies with the rules on compensation and personnel of government.

Although the UP Charter ( R e p u b l i c A c t [ R A ] 9500, 2008) provides for the university to have its own compensation and job position system, funding is still dependent on annual government a p p r o p r i a t i o n s . According to the Salary Standardization Law or SSL (RA 6758, 1989), the compensation policy of the Philippine government provides for “equal pay for substantially equal work and to base differences in pay upon substantive d i fferences in dut ies and responsibilities, and qualification requirements o f t h e p o s i t i o n s . I n de te rmin ing ra tes o f pay, due regard shall be given to, among others,

prevailing rates in the private sector for comparable work.”

The SSL also has the following principles as regards the government’s compensation and position classification system: w All government personnel shall be paid

just and equitable wages; and while pay distinctions must necessarily exist in keeping with work distinctions, the ratio of compensation for those occupying higher ranks to those at lower ranks should

be maintained at equitable levels, giving due consideration to higher percentage of increases to lower level positions and lower percentage increases to higher level positions; w Basic compensation for all personnel...shall

generally be comparable with those in the private sector doing comparable work, and must be in accordance with prevailing laws on minimum wages; w The total compensation provided for

government personnel must be maintained at a reasonable level in proportion to the national budget; w A review of government compensation

rates, taking into account possible erosion in purchasing power due to inflation and other factors, shall be conducted periodically.In relation to this, it is also necessary to take

note of the salient points of Administrative Order (AO) 103 (2004): cost reduction of at least 10 percent in the cost of services of consultants, technical assistants, contractual, and casual employees; reduction in overtime pay; limits in the grant of honoraria; and cost reduction in utilities, among others.

CSC-DBM Joint Circular No. 3 (2004) provides exemptions for the prohibition of hiring of teaching and medical personnel. Prior approval is needed to fill vacant plantilla items as well as strong justification and supporting documents. The UP President gives the final approval, through channels. The “authority to fill” process is now undergoing a review to provide for decentralization and online approvals, putting greater responsibility on unit heads to provide for their organizational job plans on personnel skills development, movements and succession.

Requests for authority to fill vacant personnel items are accompanied by the following documents, to support a unit’s justification:w Date and reason for vacancy of item.w List of duties and responsibilities attached to

the item with corresponding percentages.w Approved organizational, personnel and

functional chart of the requesting unit: please indicate date of approval, and the authority who granted approval. (Most units have a mandate from the UP Board of Regents, but some were created by law or executive order.) w Indicators of the degree of work backlog due

to the vacancy of the item.w Coping mechanism for the requesting

unit, on how the work backlog is being addressed.

FORUM May-June 2012 3

REVIEWING, from p. 2

Table 1. Total headcount of UP faculty & staff

Notes: The data are based on reports from the Human Resource Development Offices (HRDOs) of the constituent universities as of April 30, 2011. The faculty-to-staff ratio is the number of administrative personnel and the REPS, divided by the number of faculty.

Table 2. Categories of UP faculty and staff

REVIEWING, p. 11

w Job audit of the requesting unit, undertaken by the Human Resource Development Office (HRDO) of the constituent university (CU). For academic units, the current number of faculty, staff and REPS to indicate the latest teaching and non-teaching staff ratio. w Evaluation, assessment and recommendation

by the CU’s HRDO.For justifications on the authority to fill

vacant positions, chancellors and other officials are requested to carefully review the requests for consistency with the university’s strategic plans. Justifications should include provisions for multi-tasking and multi-skilling, for incorporation into the job descriptions and performance targets, including efficiency measures and skills development toward e-UP and “green” skills, if appropriate. Compliance is strictly enjoined on other commitments provided in the justifications—improvements in organizational and work design to provide the conditions necessary to increase performance and productivity.

Academic units include in their justifications to hire new personnel (“authority to fill vacant personnel items”) an analysis of their current workload; coping mechanisms; the ratio of faculty and staff (administrative staff and REPS), as well as the student–to-faculty ratio. As agreed upon by the chancellors and the university officials in the UP Executive Workshop in Tagaytay in November 2011, there should be plans to achieve a 1:1 faculty–to-staff ratio and at least a 1:15 faculty-to- student ratio within three to five years.

Based on needs, CUs and units may submit proposals to “scrap” lower administrative positions as well as non-essential positions, and “build” new positions critical to the needs and strategic thrusts of the university.

Key challenges in the UP’s human resources poolAs one university, does

the UP have the desired number and quality human resources requirements projected over the next

five years based on the UP Strategic Plan? Based on the comments of Assistant Vice-President for Administration Nestor Rañeses, this should be embedded in the CU Strategic Plans which in turn consolidate the plans of the component colleges and units. The CUs have submitted the revised strategic plans with the budgets including the personnel support required to deliver the desired results.

Any organization, especially one which aspires to be a global university, subscribes to an HR model which states the desired strategic numbers or metrics with respect to the following basic drivers of the organizational design and size: w Faculty, staff / REPS and student ratios;w Academic outputs: graduates, licensure

passing rates, research publications, inventions, patents, public services such as health services, training and others;w University resources and assets: land,

buildings, laboratories, equipment, materials, open spaces and others.It is important to determine the current

distribution and profile of our support service units where most of our administrative staff and the REPS are deployed. A critical question would be the strategies to reduce the current high ratio of the university’s faculty in relation to staff through the following schemes:

w Attr i t ion (Admin-i s t r a t i v e O r d e r [AO]103) through regular compulsory retirement;w Early or voluntary

retirement.T h e O V PA i s n o w

working to develop an Early Retirement Program (ERP). This option should be accompanied by the appropriate entrepreneurial and livelihood assistance schemes to help the retiring staff enter a more productive and rewarding new phase of life.

In the short term, a decision has to be made on filling the vacant items to get the budget released from DBM. In the long-term, the UP System should do drive simplifying, value

engineering and standardizing work processes toward enriching and combining job and salary grades that should eventually create a lean and robust “One UP, One University.” A quality system platform anchored on TQM could be adopted for this purpose. These actions should underpin the UP initiatives in operational excellence, in close synergy with the e-UP project. Short-term options in the distribution of

personnel items in UPThere is a need to decisively address the

gridlock in the demand and supply of personnel items in the university which is hampering administrative efficiency. Options are available to rationalize the distribution, to address the surplus and shortage of personnel items in the various units and campuses. While there are unfilled vacant personnel items in many units, these are not easily available in other units which urgently need them. Through an administrative order, it is possible to cut the red tape and to implement a key action plan to achieve administrative efficiency and operational excellence, as part of the work plan for strategic human resource management in the university.

Since 2005 or even earlier, UP has requested appropriations for additional personnel items from


on

QWhat can UP do to help increase the wages and salaries of workers?

THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE

"The law itself suggests

an approach that could

help increase the

wages and salaries

of UP workers. UP

could 'benchmark'

the good practices in

other universities and

organizations."

- Sale

Jonathan P. Sale, DPADean, School of Labor and Industrial

RelationsUP Diliman

Sale: What can UP do to help increase the wages and salaries of workers?1 Significantly, under Section 13 of the UP Charter of 2008, the Board of Regents (BOR) has the power—

“(k) To appoint faculty members and other officials and employees, to draw up a position classification and compensation plan for its faculty and staff, and, any law to the contrary notwithstanding, to fix and adjust salaries and benefits of the faculty members and other employees: Provided, That salaries and other benefits of the faculty shall be equivalent to those being received by their counterparts in the private sector; to determine the hours of service of faculty and staff, and such other terms and conditions of employment as it may deem proper; to grant leave of absence under such regulations as it may promulgate, any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding; and to remove them for cause as provided by law after due investigation and proper hearing;”

The BOR is empowered to draw up a position classification and compensation plan for UP faculty and staff, and to fix and adjust their salaries and benefits. The law also provides that salaries and benefits of UP faculty shall be equivalent to those being received by faculty in the private sector.

The provision thus endows the UP BOR with the flexibility to adopt measures that could increase the wages and salaries of UP workers.

In fact, according to Senator Francis Pangilinan, a leading co-

Supangco: The Salary Standardization Law (SSL) provides the salary structure of government organizations. For me, “What can UP do to help increase the wages and salaries of workers?” technically means that UP will have a salary structure that has a higher price attached to each pay grade, compared to the existing structure defined by the SSL, and that UP will have to bear the cost. The question is: can UP afford this?

The compensation it provides affects UP’s ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. The compensation they get affects employees’ standard of living. However, compensation decisions must be subjected to careful scrutiny not only because compensation

author of the UP Charter of 2008 in the Senate—

“The new UP Charter gives the Board of Regents the authority to draw up a position classification and compensation plan for UP faculty and

staff. Specifically the Charter states that salaries and other benefits of the faculty should be equivalent to those being received by their counterparts in the private sector. This effectively means exempting the UP personnel from the Salary Standardization Law.”

The law itself suggests an approach that could help increase the wages and salaries of UP workers. UP could “benchmark” the good practices in other universities and organizations.

A productivity incentives program is an example of a good practice. Under the Productivity Incentives Act of 1990, a productivity incentives program is a formal agreement established by a labor-management committee containing a process that will promote gainful employment, improve working conditions and result in increased productivity, including cost savings, whereby employees are granted salary bonuses proportionate to increases in current productivity over the average for the preceding three consecutive years, to be ratified by at least a majority of the employees who have rendered six months or more of service.3 Employee productivity may be measured by both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Productivity refers to the relation of output (products and services) to input (labor, materials, equipment, capital, and energy used to produce output) in

physical and/or real monetary terms.4 Such a program would foster worker

participation high in empowerment and broad in scope, given that a labor-management committee is an institutional arrangement that enables workers to directly influence policy and decision making at the workplace.5 But a labor-management committee cannot take the place of a union and collective bargaining or negotiation. While it may co-exist with a union, it should not be a medium for the cooptation of unorganized workers.


W a g e s

Cleve Kevin Robert ArguellesFourth year, Bachelor of Arts in

Political Science, UP ManilaStudent RegentUP System

Trisha Ann Samantha S. AligatoFourth Year, Bachelor of Arts in

Communication ArtsChair, University Student CouncilUP Mindanao

Tomasito T. Talledo, MA Assistant Professor, College of Arts

and Sciences President, AUPAEU – Iloilo ChapterUP Visayas

Vivien T. Supangco, DBAProfessorCollege of Business AdministrationUP Diliman

ROUNDTABLE, p. 6

Talledo: The decision to increase the wages and salaries of workers in state colleges and universities, particularly in UP, is not a simple problem of money or resources. Granted that UP has more than enough budget to run its operations, there’s no guarantee that the ordinary workers will get an increase in wages and salaries. As the “Occupy Wall Street” movement has made us realize, the inverted pyramid setup of authority and power in the corporate world had prevented the equitable sharing of resources and benefits by those at the top with those at the bottom.

To increase the wages of workers, one of the crucial considerations is the maximum participation of the academic and non-academic workers’ unions in university governance, especially in decision-making. The university administrators’ claim of partnership with the workers becomes real only if workers are significantly empowered;

dissemination.For the funds to be sustainable, disbursement from them must only be taken from their interest and other income. In UP, some colleges have established their own endowment funds or managed funds donated by alumni and other individuals interested.

2 . Income f rom t ra in ing and consultancy projects: Some units in the university have established their own foundations to engage in training and consultancy projects. Earnings from these activities have become sources of additional income for those involved in these projects.

3.University business income: The UP charter allows for the development of real properties, land grants and land lease. Judicious choice of projects or lease agreements can provide funds that can be used to advance UP’s mission.

4. Tuition and other fees: This is a contentious area. Students and other sectors of the university have opposed the last increase in tuition. However, there is a need to examine the profile of UP students to determine who are really subsidized by the government. An increase in tuition allows UP to use the additional income to improve course offerings, fund

operating expenses, salaries and, more importantly improve student welfare and increase available scholarships and other forms of financial aid to those in need.

constitutes a significant cost to UP, but also because any decision to increase the salaries and wages of employees will require UP to sustain it over the long run.

UP’s sources of funds other than the budget allocation from the government include, among others, endowment income, income from training and consultancy, tuition and other fees, and university business income.

1. Endowment income: This is very much dependent on the size of the fund and investment strategy. UP’s relationship with alumni, industry and other individuals to generate more funds and grants to achieve its objectives must be enhanced. Most universities abroad rely heavily on endowment income. They develop strong ties with their alumni to generate funds. For example, Yale hires external managers to develop “long-lasting relationships” with alumni and other companies. Its investment office develops partnerships with ethical professional fund managers to ensure that its investment objectives are achieved. However, most endowment fund contributions have specific purposes and restrictions. Most of these funds are intended for faculty development, research and research

"Compensation decisions must be

subjected to careful scrutiny not only

because compensation constitutes a significant

cost to UP, but also because any decision

to increase the salaries and wages of employees

will require UP to sustain it over the long

run." - Supangco

Compensation decisions are strategic decisions. UP must be clear

about why it needs to increase wages and salaries, because different objectives (employee attraction, motivation and retention) call for different approaches and equity considerations. It must plan for these increases and develop strategies to fund and sustain them.


Arguelles: One cannot deny the impact of UP on the nation, particularly UP’s capacity to create, mold or even strike down burgeoning public opinion.

This unique characteristic of the country’s national university, even with an ever-changing demographic, is still present among the majority of UP students who uphold their being “iskolar ng bayan” by articulating their opinions on matters concerning the youth and their education through mass actions, fora and the like. However, unlike before, campaigns and issues engaged in by the students and faculty remain focused on their respective sectors. Apart from efforts of progressive organizations for mass integration with urban and peasant workers, students are generally

Aligato: No wage can be a just wage—it still equates to “being a commodity” anyway. But as long as workers still use their skills to sustain their lives, they should be given significant wage increases.

The term “commodity” is defined as an object or form of service that has value and can be exchanged in the market. It has an equivalent monetary value as dictated by society. And like any other commodity, workers offer their services in exchange for salaries and wages.

As we look into the political aspect and relationships behind the flow of the economy, one will be able to tell why workers are at a disadvantage despite the hours and hours of labor they spend in exchange for wages.

It is estimated that a family of four needs P750 to P1,000 to cover their daily expenses. But with the minimum wage set at P404 for the National Capital Region and P287 for other regions, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the workers have been swindled by a system that ironically is heavily dependent on the labor force.

That is why workers, along with other sectors, continually call for the enactment of House Bill 375 to increase the minimum daily wage for private sector workers by P125 across-the-board nationwide to ensure that, at the minimum, workers can provide for their daily basic necessities.

With reasons that support clearly the capitalists, President Benigno Aquino III rejected the proposed P125 legislated wage hike for private sector workers. He rejected this proposed wage hike on the premise that businesses will be unable to survive the small losses that will be incurred from the hikes, exposing that his so-called daang matuwid is not for the common person, but will always be for the industrialists and the landlords.

In the case of state universities and colleges (SUCs), the common people face another problem—budget slashes.

It is a known fact that for the past two years under the Aquino administration, the SUCs have been experiencing budget slashes in order to “fend for themselves,” ergo, commercialization and privatization in order to support themselves because the government has other priorities like debt servicing and military spending.

ROUNDTABLE, from p. 1

"To increase the wages of workers, one of the crucial

considerations is the maximum participation

of the academic and non-academic workers’ unions in

university governance, especially in decision-making. The university administrators’ claim of partnership with

the workers becomes real only if workers

are significantly empowered; that is, if

rigid hierarchy gives way to equitability. Humane

economics complements democratic politics."

- Talledo

that is, if rigid hierarchy gives way to equitability. Humane economics complements democratic politics.

The long history of workers’ self-organization in the university has demonstrated that an important juncture has been reached. The by-word “democratic consultation” of the past has evolved into the current demand for “democratic participation.” Proof of this is the new university charter, an intermediary product of the passionate engagements of various persuasions, groups and sectors. Whereas democratic consultation was the limit of the possible in the old charter, the new charter opens up for the organized constituents the possibility of significant democratic participation. Of course, this all depends on the strength of the workers’ unions.

I consider real democrat ic participation as the pivot of the workers’ demand for increased wages and salaries, as the hinge of demand for economic security. With democratic participation, workers feel a sense of collective identification with the university they are serving, that they are really stakeholders and not mere servants. Democratic participation usually effects responsive decisions affecting the majority. I strongly believe that real democratic participation through the workers’ unions is the strongest check against the increasing number of neoliberal policies in the university. Yet I am aware that real and full democratic participation will soon be the future point of contention. Both workers and administrators are aware of this predicament, hence the current

modus vivendi.Neither higher wages and salaries

nor real economic security of workers is “seldom offered on a silver platter,” as has been often said. Workers reap the fruits of their demands only through conscious collective actions. These fruits are politically nutritious compared to those that were patronizingly given to them as gifts. Therefore the question “What can UP do to help increase the wages and salaries of workers?” is, from the viewpoint of unionists, not only a matter of finance; clearly it is a political question that is addressed by the workers in their day-to-day union work.

It’s not quixotic to protest against commercialization that has now found its way into the board room of the university. This heresy is bandied about by people of the market rather than by decent constituents in the academic community. It’s only right and legitimate to demand adequate subsidy from the state since educational institutions are considered as matrices of future leaders of society—a necessary societal investment without loss. It is most ideal that significant decisions that seriously affect the welfare and interests of the university’s constituents are democratic.

"The university can

foster a pro-worker

perspective among

students, inculcate

awareness of basic

workers’ rights and

facilitate discussions

that push the labor

agenda forward. A pro-

worker perspective

will prove vital in the

unification of the UP

community."

- Arguelles "UP can launch activities

to support a campaign

that must work in this

framework: Arouse,

Organize and Mobilize.

Arousing the political

consciousness of people

so that they may be

able to understand the

issue, be it in the form

of a discussion, forum or

public debate."

- Aligato

ROUNDTABLE, p. 14

oblivious to the plight of workers and what they can do.

Such indifference is not unique to UP. The outward flow of labor encouraged by the government makes it hard for the youth to see the contribution of workers to the economy. They fail to see what workers’ hands build because their hands weld, construct, design and build structures in foreign countries. Students fail to feel their relevance, since rarely do valuable machinery come from our country themselves; they’re all imports, melded from foreign hands, or assembled in part in other countries. Their parents who barely earn anything, and who shy away from being labeled as union members for fear of harassment or even dismissal by their employers, fail to show the pride, productivity and growth made possible by our workers’ hands and minds .

The prevailing social system itself has dehumanized the working class; it has removed all valor and integrity from what they do. Even the laws that give them security of tenure in their jobs are morbidly forgotten. The global trend created by developed countries move the worker out of the country, treat them for export, make them docile and consequently alienate them from Philippine society.

But what we have here is an opportunity to reverse the tide. UP as an institution has the capacity to engage its staff, faculty and students in workers’ issues and help bring back the workers to their place in society as vanguards of our economy, transformers of our raw materials and the hands that feed and rock the cradle.

The university can foster a pro-worker perspective among students, inculcate awareness of basic workers’ rights and facilitate discussions that push the labor agenda forward. A pro-worker perspective will prove vital in the unification of the UP community—students and workers alike (e.g., faculty, vendors, staff, REPS) and equip the students with a fresh and enlightened understanding of the world. The university can foster critical studies to analyze the ever-

evolving effects of neoliberalism on labor, especially in the light of the global crisis.

UP can step out of sectoral calls and unite with the workers in calling for labor reforms, higher wages and better working conditions.

With UP taking an active stance in the workers’ struggle, our students would better appreciate their role in nation-building as they eventually become employees and members of the labor force. By using their talent, skills and intelligence for the betterment of our society, our students will turn the focus of the future Filipino labor force inward and fight the current tide of the Filipino diaspora.


The problem with wages and cost of livingBy KiM Quilinguing

Since 1999, progressive labor groups have called for a legislated wage hike of P125 in the

minimum daily wage of private sector workers. At the same time, they have demanded a legislated increase of P3,000 in the monthly salary of public sector (or government) workers. Both of these, according to organized labor, should be across-the-board and nationwide.

Despite the continuous campaign of various labor groups and their supporters, the call remains unheeded. Meanwhile, the prices of basic commodities and services are going up, while wages and salaries remain the same.

As expected, the demand for wage increases has been opposed by employers. Since the campaign for a legislated wage and salary increase started, organized employers have cited various reasons why they cannot afford to raise the wages of their employees substantially. Business people have also cited the possibility of earning less if they paid their employees more, resulting in the possible closure of their companies.

Earlier this year, Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Rafael Mariano filed and campaigned for House Bill (HB) 375 also known as an "Act Providing for a P125 Daily Across the Board Increase in the Salary Rates of Employees and Workers in the Private Sector and for Other Purposes.”

Mariano said that the bill should be passed by Congress soon, since the P125 legislated wage hike is “long overdue.”1 The bill has since acquired the support of like-minded party-list groups like Gabriela Women’s Party, Kabataan Partylist, ACT Teachers Partylist and Bayan Muna.

But Mariano’s bill has met fierce opposition, particularly from the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP). In an article on its website, ECOP warned against the passage and implementation of HB 375 because “companies which are unable to recover the increased cost of production would have no other choice but either to retrench or worse, close shop, or simply go underground, rather than risk severe penal sanctions.”2 The organization also said that the legislated wage hike would result in losses for small and micro industries and entrepreneurs. It estimates

3,596,110 workers in micro and small enterprises, or 63 percent of the total number of 5,691,110 wage employees in the formal business sector.

The Aquino administration seems to share ECOP’s fears of micro and small industries’ closing down. Just a month ago, President Benigno S. Aquino III said in a speech that should the bill implementing the P 125 across–the-board wage increase be passed in Congress, “(a)bout 527,000 Filipinos could lose their work this year and next year.”3 Aquino said that the campaign for wage increases must also consider the capacity of business to provide the new wages and salaries to their workers without resulting in the possible closure of their businesses.

Agreeing with Aquino, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also expressed apprehension in the passage of the Mariano bill. Baldoz said DOLE “cannot support the proposed across-the-board P125 daily wage increase because it will weigh down heavily on the economy through higher prices, loss of jobs, and slower overall economic growth.”4 Baldoz added that the sought after across the board increase in salaries and wages will only “result in higher inflation rates, and will further erode workers' incomes.”5

Instead of a legislated wage hike, the Aquino administration has moved for the increase in the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) of wage earners. On May 19, Wage Order NCR-17 mandated employers in the National Capital Region to increase the COLA of their employees by P30.

According to NCR Wage Board Chair Alan Macaraya, the increase in COLA, added to the P22 granted in 2011, will result in “P546.50 per day per employee working six (6) days a week, which is equivalent to 11.98 percent increase or P58.48 per day from the previous minimum wage rate.”6 The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) said that the P30-increase in COLA was the highest granted by the NCR Wage Board in recent years.

For former Budget Secretary and UP Diliman School of Economics Professor Benjamin Diokno, the implications of the additional P30 in COLA for workers in Metro Manila are enormous. In

NOTES:1 P125 daily wage hike 'long overdue'. (2012, May 1).

SunStar Manila. Retrieved June 15, 2012 from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/05/01/p125-daily-wage-hike-long-overdue-219173

2 Employers Confederation of the Philippines. (n.d.). Lawmakers Warned on ‘Disastrous’ Impact of P125 Wage Hike Bill. Retrieved June 25, 2012 from http://www.ecop.org.ph/lawmakers-warned-on-disastrous-impact-of-p125-wage-hike-bill.php

3 Aquino: P125 across-the-board wage hike 'impossible'. (2012, May 1). SunStar Manila. Retrieved June 15, 2012 from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/05/01/aquino-p125-across-board-wage-hike-impossible-219144

4 P125 wage hike ‘could lead to more harm than good’. (2012, March 30). SunStar Manila. Retrieved June 15, 2012 from http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/03/30/p125-wage-hike-could-lead-more-harm-good-214028

5 Ibid.6 Department of Labor and Employment National Wages and

Productivity Commission. (2012, June 11). New Wage Hike For NCR takes effect early June. Retrieved June 18, 2012 from http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/news.html#NCR_June

7 Diokno, Benjamin. (2012, May 21). Political economy of wage setting. Malaya Business Insight, Retrieved June 20, 2012 from http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/opinion/3869-political-economy-of-wage-setting

"Political economy of wage setting," Diokno wrote that the “P30 increase in daily minimum wage, on top of the highest minimum wage in the country, will only attract more workers to join the labor force in the NCR.”7 This would result not only in the massive influx of labor into Metro Manila but also in the draining of human resources essential for the development of other parts of the country.

At the moment, the clamor for the passage of HB 375 has hit a snag, and the Aquino administration has instituted what it views as remedies to address the continuously rising prices in basic commodities and professional services. While the re-examination of the bill by members of the Congress, the academe and other groups would serve to properly calculate the needed increase for wage earners, further increases in the prices of basic commodities are likely.--------------------

Email the author at [email protected].

Photo from http://pinoyw

eekly.org/new/2011/06/kaw

ani-ng-gobyerno-kay-p-noy-wag-kam

i-lokohin-p6000-dagdag-suweldo-hiling-nam

in/


Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is one of the foremost examples of social criticism in English

literature. Its pages narrate the difficulties of living in fundamentally unjust conditions, where the powerful hold dominion over the powerless, and even the most noble of spirits cannot escape persecution. Indeed, few knew the difficulties of living in destitution like Dickens himself, when at a tender age he was made to work in Warren's Blacking Factory as the rest of his family was locked away in a debtors' prison. Scholars such as David Cody have credited the psychological scars Dickens sustained during this period for his later preoccupation with alienation, betrayal and poverty in his works.1 But more than a work of suffering and treachery, A Tale of Two Cities is remembered just as fondly as a novel of redemption—the virtuous Darnay is saved from execution in Paris to live honorably in London, while his rescuer Carton is redeemed through his noble sacrifice.

Though the lives of government employees, particularly those employed by state universities and colleges (SUCs) today, may not be as sordid as life during the early modern era of British and French history, their struggles with insufficient benefits and salaries has long been a concern that has not been adequately addressed.

Unlike what the novel implies, no two cities are ever identical at heart. Differences in custom, lifestyle, and cost of living between two cities ensure that employees of SUCs in different cities will face different conditions despite similar duties and salary grades. In fact, just like the redemption found by Darnay away from his native Paris, it is possible for the employees of SUCs to lead better lives in cities far away from their institutions of origin. Though it certainly does not mean that long-standing issues of wages, benefits and opportunity in SUCs must be abandoned, the experiences of two faculty members who have relocated from UP campuses in Metro Manila to their present posts in UP Mindanao suggest how different socioeconomic conditions prevailing in two distant cities can greatly affect the lives of UP employees—sometimes for the better.The State of SUCs, the State of the Country

A 2005 article by Bulatlat identifies the government as the “biggest employer in the country.” While describing the difference between 'career' and 'non-career' state employees, it also reveals the

A Tale of Two Cities

By Andre encarnacion

difficulties encountered by government employees —low salaries, inadequate benefits, insecurity of tenure, lack of democratic rights and indebtedness: issues that are still very much pertinent today.2

Furthermore, due to inadequate compensation, an increasing number of government employees, teachers in particular, take vocational courses so they can apply for work abroad. UP President Alfredo E. Pascual has himself mentioned the need to address the problem of providing decent compensation and equitable benefits to the university's faculty and staff, in order not to lose them to other universities and the private sector which has been a perennial problem of the country's national university.

Two reports on the other hand were released last year by financial and economic think tanks which found Manila to be nearly the cheapest city in the world.3 And as if this wasn't enough, a Philippine Daily Inquirer article earlier this year presented 10 reasons why the Philippines should be considered a retirement destination.4 Foremost among these reasons is the allegedly affordable cost of living. The article claimed that the monthly expenses for food, housing, transportation, and labor are affordable for most retirees. Add to this a favorable currency exchange rate: the article claimed that on average a retiree could live comfortably on $2,000 in a fully-furnished home with a household helper.

Reconciling these two realities reveals the conundrum facing both the government and the country's work force. Though Manila is the second least expensive city in the world in a list of 73 countries when it comes to cost of living, the downside is that most Filipinos receive low wages, and, consequently, low purchasing power. Indeed, Manila is listed as the second city after Mumbai with the lowest wage rates, and the third lowest in the world in terms of purchasing power.5

According to the source, then Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga attributed the country's ranking to “controlled inflation”— inflation kept within 3 to 5 percent, as set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Because of controlled inflation, wage hikes have to be controlled as well. This stems inflation but also reduces purchasing power. Paderanga believes that such inflationary checks have benefitted big business more than the general populace. To quote:

“Manila may be the world's most inexpensive city, but who's bearing the burden of keeping the cost of living here low? It's the lowly poor. A policy of business for business' sake is suicidal. Social costs should translate to social benefits.”6

The realities are even more difficult for non-career employees, many of whom belong to salary grade 10 and below. The depressing figures might lead one to believe in a life that is uniformly difficult for government employees throughout the archipelago, especially given the current salary grade structure. It would be easy to conclude that a faculty member in Luzon would find many parallels with the difficulties experienced by colleagues in Visayas and Mindanao. And in many instances, one would be correct. But is this always the case?

Dressing Down“I came from UP Diliman’s College of Business

Administration and had been teaching there for 15 years from 1984 until 1999 when I moved to UP Mindanao,” said Dr. Sylvia B. Concepcion, dean of the UP Mindanao School of Management. For her, moving to Mindanao has been both a practical decision and a labor of love. Following her children who passed the UPCAT for a campus outside her native Diliman, Concepcion also cited the importance of her contributing to Mindanao, since the institution was just starting at the time.

“There were sufficient numbers of experts in Luzon; more than what was required for its development, while there were very few in Mindanao”. Upon her arrival she confirmed one of the suspicions —many of her new students were far less wealthy than the ones she left behind in Diliman, who mostly came from the privileged class.

In addition to this new opportunity to serve, the move to Davao made a dramatic shift in her family's lifestyle—a change that has been mostly positive. One of the first things that the ever-prepared educator and mother (she says they arrived at the Davao pier with thirteen balikbayan boxes, one L300, and three bicycles) first noticed when she settled into her new job was the noticeably slower pace of life in the city compared to the national capital.

“Lifestyle in Davao is simpler, but we didn't know that before we moved,” she said. To investigate, she and her husband visited in April of 1999, with

Manila, Davao and the Cost of Living in SUCs

TALE OF TWO CITIES, p. 9


only the following criteria in mind: (a) that the three children would all have schools to go to, (b) that the place they were to live in was better than their Antipolo residence, (c) that there is a nice supermarket in the city, (d) that there was a beach nearby, and (e) that they could see mountains. Davao met all these requirements.

Adjusting to their new surroundings seemed like a far easier task. Apart from the lack of traffic, which means that a 20-km trip to the university would take 30 minutes while a far shorter trip in Manila would take longer, Davao has what she calls an “unwritten dress-down policy.” She recalls that people stared when she continued to wear the clothes she used to wear in UP Diliman every day. “I was overdressed with skirts, stockings, and high heels,” she said. Another incident found her dressing in a long, formal gown while everyone else wore blazers and dress pants—everyday attire in her old post at the CBA. “Now I wear jeans, flat walking shoes, sometimes sneakers,” she said. “There is no shame in second-hand or pre-owned clothes, and retail outlets are fun places to visit.”

While benefiting from the much slower pace of Davao, she also marvels at the amount of produce in the region—particularly fruits. “In Manila, our meals would have fruits sparingly and only one kind of fruit at a time. Fruits were beyond the UP salary.” In Davao, on the other hand, both her household kitchen and office pantry would have fruits all the time; usually two or three varieties at a time. The lower prices of good food have made her and her husband gain 15 and 20 pounds, respectively.

The marketing and management expert shed more light on the favorable economic conditions, which contribute to their good fortune: “In recent years, the prices of Davao have been catching up with the prices in Manila, but overall almost all commodities sell at lower prices... especially fruits and vegetables.” Those in the upper socio-economic class in Davao are just about 3 percent, compared to 25 percent in Manila.

For the past 10 years, she and her family have enjoyed “movies for P80, eating out for an average of P100-150 per person; recreation at Eden Nature Park for P350 which includes a buffet lunch with organic salad of various types of lettuce; beach at Paradise for an average of P200 including food and entrance.” She also noted the lower price of real estate: one can still buy a hectare of farmland for P300,000 and rent a house for as low as P5,000 (just be prepared for tiny bathrooms).

Despite what she describes as a “definitely better quality of life,” economic conditions and populations alike are complex entities, constantly subject to change. The idyllic conditions she describes are slowly changing with the influx of migrants and expats assigned to Mindanao to manage businesses

and NGOs. “Due to this population shift, one can also see

increasing numbers of higher priced restaurants and retail outlets of branded products especially with the construction of Abreeza Mall and a second SM Mall which occupies a few hectares of land. Increase in prices and cost of living is expected to follow soon.”

Regardless of these changes, life has been good to Concepcion and many of the rewards have gone beyond the iron law of wages. She describes the joys of watching students from farmer-families “bloom from timid and fearful neophytes to confident and articulate thinkers” who, after graduation, “send younger siblings to school.” She with her fellow faculty have also provided extension services to more than 300 farmers from South Cotabato, Davao and Bukidnon using marketing concepts she thought only applied to corporate settings, and linking them with high value markets.

Lastly, she enjoys getting acquainted with the region's indigenous people, who still keep many facets of their culture. “They were able to show me what Filipino culture may have been like before being mainstreamed to urban society.”

The City of My Last BreathLast April, Davao was named by a panel of

property experts to be one of the top cities for young professionals.7 The analysts cited the cost of living index as their first criterion, followed by home affordability, community planning, accessibility, job opportunities and other factors.8 Though it is quickly becoming a destination of choice for Manila-based investors and fortune seekers, Davao can also provide a refuge for the spirit and a place of healing to those wishing to start anew. This is the case at least for one distinguished poet from UP Manila.

“There was a simply no comparison between Manila and Davao,” said former dean of the UP Mindanao College of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Ricardo de Ungria. “One is a penal colony, the other, a nature park.”

De Ungria first fell in love with Davao when he saw it from the air en route to a summer workshop in Samal island. Since that trip, he had always wanted to return to its mountains, vegetation, its rational traffic flow and the “endless spaces that made me think I could paint there again." When Dr. Roger Cuyno, the first UP Mindanao chancellor, invited him to become the first dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences; de Ungria, unhappy with faculty politics and the nastiness of life in Manila, did not take long to accept.

The otherwise happy reunion with the city was marked, however, by the shadow of tragedy. “I was also dealing with the rehabilitation of my only son who had drug problems and who ended his life on April Fools Day in 1998. I had planned to bring him with me to Davao and start life anew; but that was not to be. Undaunted, though wounded, by his death, and used to being by myself for most of my life, I moved here in Davao in April 1999 to remake myself and my life.”

While healing from the wounds of this event, de Ungria discovered a freedom in his destinationt he had not known in Manila. The lifestyle change was, in his words, “radical.” “I was free to become who I thought I could not be—an artist administrator for one, and a social creature for another.” Though his life, like Concepcion's, became simpler, he began to think “in more complicated ways that surprised even me.”

This newfound inspiration would result in several projects during his six-year tenure which helped root the campus in its place of operation. He founded three consortia: the Davao Colleges and Universities Network in Davao City, the Mindanao Science and Technology Park Consortium in Bago Oshiro, and the Mindanao Studies Consortium Foundation, Inc., all of which, he proudly notes, continue to serve to this day. The active pursuit of what he perceived as the “common good” was a big success for the self-

described “laid-back, solitary poet.”The more affordable cost of living in Davao

is not lost on de Ungria, the simplicity of the city being one of its prime attractions for him. “Davao is incomparably cheaper than Manila, then as now. Students could have decent meals for about P30 then, or even much less—with dessert, if they cared to.” Despite the presence of SM and Ayala Malls that brought designer goods to city, the people mostly manage to maintain their simplicity:

“Manila is a showroom of flashy cars; in Davao my humble Volkswagen has its place of pride—at least until around seven years ago when well-to-do immigrants began bringing in their SUVs and clogging the roads.”

Though admittedly not one to keep track of prices, de Ungria recently bought a house for himself, his books, CDs and DVDs. The move has even benefited his health: “I was able to breathe good air and drink good water from the faucet and eat good simple food, so that I didn't get sick for years. Going to Manila on official trips gave me the blues and viruses. I came back from it poorer and coughing and greatly relieved.”

More than these tangible improvements on his well-being, the move has also changed the way he views his purchases and spending; one of the largest contrasts between the two phases of his life. “What I can say is this: even though I get some extra value for my money here in Davao, I am happier parting with my hard-earned pesos here than in Manila—even for the same ball-pen and leather bag.”

Whatever increase of purchasing power he may have had due to his simple lifestyle and the recent increase in faculty salary and benefits, de Ungria says he makes sure they are spent on products sold by local entrepreneurs. He has traded Earl Gray tea for Turmeric granules from Surallah, and prefers ginanggang to Jollibee snacks. “There's no lack of satisfying and delicious goods made by Davaoeños and Mindanawons,” he said.

“In Manila, I had to buy what I needed to buy because it might not be there tomorrow; in Davao, I don't have to buy anything at all just because it is there. It will always be there when I change my mind and come back for it weeks or months later.” Though he says the construction of new malls may have changed the habits of some locals, he always finds himself with spare change for local delicacies. “Spending in Manila then and now always left me in a snit and feeling bottomed out and poorer and taken advantage of. Not here in Davao.”

For de Ungria, however, moving to Davao was never an issue of primarily material comforts. He is happy to share his knowledge of literature, music, art and life with students “who come from all imaginable and unimaginable places in Mindanao,” and are

TALE OF TWO CITIES, from p. 8

UP Mindanao School of Management Dean Sylvia ConcepcionFormer UP Mindanao Chancellor Ricardo de Ungria

TALE OF TWO CITIES, p. 10


By Arbeen Acuña

A recent Social Weather Stations survey shows that unemployment has hit a “record-high” of 34.4

percent. But those fortunate enough to be employed, still have to worry about job security.

According to Businessworld1 (citing data from the Department of Labor and Employment’s [DOLE] Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) released last February) 16.2 percent of employees were ‘non-regular’ in 2010, and classified as contractual, probationary, seasonal or apprentice. (Please see page 12 for more information on the forms of contractualization.)

An analysis of the employment situation at state universities and colleges (SUCs) leads us to a colloquial term coined by the workers themselves: ‘endo’—a shortened term for “end of contract” or job loss after about three to five months of contractual employment. According to Bulatlat,2 “more than 60 percent of Filipino workers today suffer job insecurity and persistent case of ‘endo.’” The same article showed how workers reacted to contractualization nationwide—among them

NOTES:1 Survey: Non-regular workers up by 16%. (2012, March

1). BusinessWorld Online. Retrieved from http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=23&title=Survey:-Non-regular-workers-up-by-16%&id=47666

2 Salamat, Marya. (2012, February 22). 10th year of legalization of contractualization marked with nationwide protests. Bulatlat. Retrieved from http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/22/10th-year-of-legalization-of-contractualization-marked-with-nationwide-protests/

3 Tolentino, Rolando B. (2009, May 25). Pag-aklas/Pagbaklas/Pagbagtas: Politikal na Kritisismong Pampanitikan. Quezon City: UP Press.

Contractualization in the education sector

passionate to read and learn from his selections. He is also happy to make a difference not only in the lives of his students, but to the “intellectual, cultural and academic life of communities in Davao and in Mindanao.” And as he told an interviewer more than a decade ago, he truly has no regrets choosing Davao as “the city of his last breath.”

“I'm happy as a fruit ripening with the durians and pomelos and mangosteens every year, and being part of that immense and mysterious cycle and miracle that is life. Davao—life is here!”--------------------


NOTES:1 The Victorian Web. (2004, March). Dickens: A Brief

Biography. Retrieved June 25, 2012 from http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/dickensbio1.html

2 Ombion, Karl G. (2005, November 27-December 3).

Over a hundred contractual janitors of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) go on strike February 2012 to demand their reinstatement.

Photo taken from http://bulatlat.com

/main/2012/03/06/pup-contractual-w

orkers-launch-strike-demand-reinstatem

ent/

State Employees Demand P3,000 Pay Increase, Unpaid COLA. Bulatlat. Retrieved June 29, 2012 from http://www.bulatlat.com/news/5-42/5-42-pay.htm

3 Cheap But Poor. (2011, August 22). Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 29, 2012 from http://opinion.inquirer.net/10443/cheap-but-poor

4 Socao-Alumno, Joyce (2012, March 21). Ten Reasons Why Philippines Should be Considered Retirement Destination. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved on June 29, 2012 from http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/40111/10-reasons-why-philippines-should-be-considered-retirement-destination

5 Ibid. 6 Ibid.7 Salazar, Tessa R. (2012, April 13). Property experts name

top Philippine cities for yuppies. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved on June 29, 2 012 from http://business.inquirer.net/53509/property-experts-name-top-philippine-cities-for-yuppies

8 Salazar, Tessa R. (2012, March 30). Criteria for best Philippine cities to live in. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved on June 28, 2012 from http://business.inquirer.net/51873/criteria-for-best-philippine-cities-to-live-in

TALE OF TWO CITIES, from p. 9

the janitors of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).

AnakPawis Rep. Rafael Mariano said “The Samahan ng mga Janitor sa PUP (SJPUP) employees union, an affiliate of the National Federation of Labor Unions (NAFLU) launched their labor strike last March to assert for their job security and absorption in the new agency, Care Best.” Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Chair Elmer Labog added that PUP’s promised absorption of contractual janitors into the new agency has not been fulfilled and that PUP has not studied yet how to directly absorb contractuals—not into another service agency—but into PUP itself.

There was a similar case in the University of the Philippines (UP) in August 2006.3 All-UP Workers Union (AUPWU) National President Felix Pariñas said there are agency-hired janitors who remain contractual despite long years of service to UP.

He differentiated between UP and non-UP contractuals. The former enjoy the benefits of regular employees under the collective negotiation

agreement (CNA) but they are not given tenure and they renew their contract and application yearly. On the other hand, a non-UP contractual has no employer-employee relationship with the university. He added that non-UP contractuals are most vulnerable to abuses since they are not given the benefits and protection warranted by law. He said that besides the Herrera Law that prohibits contractuals to organize themselves into unions, another challenge to employees is their fear of their contracts not being renewed.

Data show that teachers also experience contractualization, just like other workers. ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio said that as of August 2011, the Department of Education (DepEd) estimates around 49,530 contractual elementary and high school teachers hired by local governments and 19,063 “volunteer Kinder teachers” hired by DepEd itself on one-year contracts. “According to data provided by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), there are at least 13,075 part-time faculty (one-third of the teaching force in the 110 SUCs)… during the Academic Year 2011-2012.”

“Most teachers cope with the wide salary-living wage gap by taking out loans from the GSIS and other lenders, assuming teaching loads heavier than what regular instructors or professors might take, and moonlighting in several public and/or private higher education institutions. These measures subject them to unnecessary and more onerous burdens, including higher income tax rates.”--------------------



ACT Teachers: House Bills and StatusesBy Antonio tinio (as told to Arbeen Acuña)

It is unfortunate that the current administration has not seen it fit to enact a single bill mandating substantial increases in wage, even non-wage benefits, for public school teachers since the start of the 15th Congress in May 2010. For our part, ACT Teachers Party-List has principally authored the following wage-related bills for educators, but not one has gone past the committee stage:n HB02142 An Act Upgrading the Minimum

Salary Grade of Public School Teachers from Salary Grade 11 to 15 Status: Referred to Stakeholders on 2010-09-20 n HB04134 An Act Providing for a Teaching

Supplies Allowance for Public School Teachers and Appropriating Funds Therefor Status: Pending with the Committee on Basic Education and Culture since 2011-02-14 n HB04523 An Act Upgrading the Minimum

Salary Grade of Public Higher Education Teaching Personnel from Salary Grade 12 to 16 Status: Pending with the Committee on Appropriations since 2011-05-09 n HB05661 An Act Increasing the Ceiling

for the Total Exclusion from Gross Income of 13th Month Pay and Other Benefits to Sixty Thousand Pesos, Amending for the Purpose Section 32 (B)(7)(E) of the National Internal Revenue Code Status: Pending with the Committee on Ways and Means since 2012-01-16 n HB05662 An Act Increasing the Personnel

Economic Relief Allowance Granted to Government Employees to Four Thousand

Pesos and Appropriating Funds Therefor Status: Pending with the Committee on Appropriations since 2012-01-16 n HB06006 An Act Prohibiting the Hiring of

Teachers in the Public Sector through Contracts of Service or Job Orders Status: Pending with the Committee on Basic Education and Culture since 2012-03-20The last bill seeks to arrest the worsening abuse

of contractualization, through which just salaries and benefits are denied teachers by a mere declaration of the non-existence of an employer-employee relationship. Its Section 4 states: “No teacher shall be hired to carry out the duties and functions of regular teaching staff, either on a full-time or part-time basis, through contracts of service or job orders. Provided, that post-secondary education institutions requiring teachers with highly specialized or technical expertise, which cannot be provided by their regular teaching staff, are exempt from the prohibition on contracts of service.”

It further provides for an administrative liability on the part of any government official or employee who violates the prohibition.

I have also given my support to these other bills:n HB00375 An Act Providing for a P125.00

Daily Across-the Board Increase in the Salary Rates of Employees and Workers in the Private Sector and for Other Purposes Status: Under deliberation by a Subcommittee on 2011-06-02 n HB01800 An Act Increasing Maternity

Leave Benefits from Sixty (60) Days to One Hundred Twenty (120) Days or Four Months , Amending for the Purpose, PD 442, as Amended by RA 7322 Status: Scheduled for first meeting/hearing on 2012-02-07 n HB01962 An Act effectively Repealing

the Automatic Appropriation for Debt Service and Institutionalizing the Automatic Appropriation of Six Percent (6%) of the Gross Domestic Product to Public Education Sector Spending by Amending Section 31 of PD No. 292, otherwise known as the “Administrative Code of 1987” which Reiterates in toto Section 31 of PD No. 1177 Status: Referred to Stakeholders on 2010-09-20 n HB03746An Act Providing for a P6,000

Increase in the Minimum Pay of Employees and Workers in the Public Sector Nationwide and for Other Purposes Status: Pending with the Committee on Appropriations since 2010-12-01 n HB04684 An Act Granting Universal

Maternity Leave Benefits to Women in Government Service Status: Pending with the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation since 2011-05-24 n HB05110 An Act Strengthening the Workers’

Right to Security of Tenure, and Amending for the Purpose Art. 106 of PD 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines Status: Committee Report filed on 2011-06-09

REVIEWING, from p. 3Congress. The DBM, on the other hand, argues that there are hundreds of unfilled faculty and staff items in UP, thus the claim that there is no basis to request for additional personnel items.

Clearly, the DBM views the UP as one agency. As mandated by the UP Charter, the call for “one UP” requires, among others, the pooling of university items and its management should be coordinated and integrated.

It is rational to prudently manage and limit the budget for personnel services. Internal rationalization of the faculty and staff item distribution among the CUs, as well as within the units of the CUs,is a step toward further organizational development, along with other supportive measures involving strategic human resource management to achieve administrative efficiency.

Internal flexibility in transfer, redeployment and reclassificationAmong the various categories of personnel

act ion tha t could suppor t adminis t ra t ive efficiency are hiring, assignment, skills or career development, promotion and separation. In the short term, the most important personnel actions that could help the university achieve the goals of internal flexibility to support operational excellence are transfer, redeployment and reclassification of existing job items. These actions affect not only the life of the college or unit where the affected personnel belong but also the family and community life. It is important to be aware of the distinctions, as provided by rules from the DBM and the CSC.

Transfer is the movement of employee from one position to another of equivalent rank, level or salary without break in the record of

In the short term, a decision

has to be made on filling

the vacant items to get

the budget released from

DBM. In the long-term,

the UP System should

do drive simplifying,

value engineering and

standardizing work

processes toward enriching

and combining job and

salary grades that should

eventually create a lean

and robust “One UP, One

University.”

service. The transfer may be from one department or agency to another or from one organizational unit to another in the s a m e d e p a r t m e n t o r agency. However, any movement from the non-ca ree r s e rv i ce t o t he career service shall not be considered a transfer.

R e d e p l o y m e n t i s the transfer of a person with an item from one college or unit to another college or unit, with the s a me i t e m ( t h e s am e rank, level or salary, as specif ied in the DBM PSIPOP). Redeployment may also be from one CU to another.

R e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n involves the modification or position classification i f t h e r e h a s b e e n a subs tan t ia l change in the regular duties and responsibil i t ies of the incumbent of the position and which may result in a change in any or all of the posit ion attr ibutes like position title, level and salary grade.

Upgrading with reclassification refers to the change in position title with the corresponding increase in salary grade. Positions are upgraded to attain effectively the functions and duties attached to the position and for the employee to perform an a l l -around adaptabi l i ty in

meeting diverse work a s s i g n m e n t s . T h i s requires reissuance of appointment. Upgrading r e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n usual ly involves the a b o l i t i o n a n d t h e collapse of posit ions which the agency finds insignificant to augment the salaries assigned t o t h e u p g r a d e d o r reclassified position.

Government rules provide that the incumbent of a position in a permanent capacity which has been upgraded or reclassified shall be appointed to the upgraded or reclassified position without change in employment status, regardless of whether or not he or she meets t h e q u a l i f i c a t i o n requirements. However, the employee shall no longer be promoted to the next higher position unless there is compliance with the required qualifications for the position. --------------------

Dr. Maragtas S .V. Amante is the vice-pres iden t f o r Admin i s t ra t ion o f t he UP System and a professor at the UP Dil iman School of Labor and Industr ial Relat ions (SOLAIR). Email him at maragtas.amante@gmail .com.


(a) CONTRACTUAL WORKERS or FIXED TERM CONTRACT WORKERS are directly employed through written contracts, based on a particular period and type of work. Renewal of contracts depends on management.

(b) PROBATIONARY WORKERS are placed under a probation period during which their skills are tested. This is part of the process to eventually become a regular employee. The probationary period shall not exceed six (6) months after which the management shall evaluate the workers’ capabilities for regular employment.

(c) CASUAL WORKERS are directly employed for tasks termed by the management as not “necessary and desirable” in business, and if the worker cannot be categorized as seasonal and project employee.

(d) PROJECT-BASED WORKERS are those whose employment is based on a specific task or project with a clear duration of

Forms of ContractualizationBy KMU chairperson elmer labog (translated from Filipino by Arbeen Acuña)

institutions (tutorials).

(p) TEMPORARY WORKERS are given a two-week evaluation period before they are declared qualified for a five-month contract.

(q) RELIEVER WORKERS are those who substitute for workers on vacation or when there is a shortage in the work force. In enclaves and some enterprises, they fall in line every day and wait for advice if they shall have work for that day or not.

(r) EMERGENCY WORKERS are employed based on the need of the company. They differ from seasonal workers who have a definite period (season) to work.

(s) ON-CALL WORKERS wait for the call of the management if they need to report on the following day.

(t) ACCOUNT-BASED WORKERS are employed in BPO enterprises where their employment is bound to the period stipulated in the contract between the account or client they serve and the enterprise employing them. An employee may be terminated anytime even if the contract with the BPO’s client has not yet lapsed.

employment. They, too, are directly employed by the management.

(e) COMMISSION WORKERS are those whose wages are determined by the percentage of the profit or value earned from a transaction or task; it is commonly known as a commission. Though it is used as a form of compensation for workers, being on commission is also used to categorize employment. There are regular employers in an enterprise who base wage schemes on commissions. There are non-regular employees who are commission workers. Their wages are based on commission and the management has no control over the workers. They are not part of the enterprise’s work force.

(f) SEASONAL WORKERS are those whose employment is based on the season and the cycle of production or demand of the market. They are employed during the peak season of production and their employment can be terminated upon the management’s wishes. Most seasonal workers have no written contract. They may be directly employed or contracted through agencies. They are usually found in the agriculture sector, particularly at plantations during harvest time.

(g) AGENCY WORKERS are not directly employed by the principal company as they are employed through agencies or third parties to perform tasks in the enterprise of the principal company. They are not counted as part of the work force of the principal. Their contract lasts for five months and is terminated after; otherwise, they sign another five-month contract. Those who have been employed by the agency for a number of years are called regular agency workers.

(h) TRAINEES/APPRENTICE WORKERS do not have enough job experience or are new in the company. Though some of them have experience in the workplace, they are employed as trainees to prolong the period of apprenticeship before they become regular employees. Workers apply as trainees because of lack of job opportunities. Apprentice workers are given two-month contracts or more as trainees before giving them to an agency or being employed under probation.

(i) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING/ DUAL TRAINING SYSTEM is a scheme where schools, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and companies partner to allegedly give students technical and actual knowledge in the system of production and technology. Other students receive allowances while undergoing OJT which they use to pay for their tuition. In other schools, students pay training fees.

(j) PIECE-RATE WORKERS are not regular employees. Their wages are based on the number of pieces they finish daily. Though there are regular employees who are paid through piece-rate system, the former, however, is not secured by a written contract. This type of arrangement is a form of flexible waging. Piece-rate workers retain their status for as long as the management wishes. They can never be regular employees and can be terminated anytime.

(k) TASK-RATED WORKERS’ system of waging is based on a specific job or task that is not based on the time used to complete it.

(l) PAKYAWAN WORKERS work on bulk tasks or complete particular tasks. Because of the demanding nature of their tasks, they often work in groups and divide what they earn among themselves. They are usually found in the

agriculture sector, particularly at plantations where landlords use pakyawan system, as well as in agricultural corporations, harvest cooperatives, weeding and pest-control. Payment is based on a per hectare basis or volume of harvest.

(m) PRODUCTION STANDARD/QUOTA WORKERS’ performance is based on a pre-determined minimum number or quantity of production for a given period. This is a wage system that becomes an employment system as well for some enterprises.

(n) PART-TIME WORKERS’ tasks require less time compared to those in an enterprise.

(o) TIME-RATED WORKERS’ wage system is based on time, e.g., per hour, per day or per month. Workers are directly employed by capitalists and agencies, usually without contracts. Most of them can be found in restaurants (broken time), business process outsourcing (BPOs) and educational


Flight as Fight for SurvivalBy Fred Dabu

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported a total of 2.8 million unemployed

Filipinos in 2011 while the April 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO) estimated that some 7.3 million Filipinos are underemployed out of the 40.6 million it considers part of the labor force.1

The same NSO survey showed that the majority of employed and underemployed Filipinos are in the services sector (51.4 percent of employed, 40.2 percent of underemployed) and the agriculture sector (33 of employed, 43 percent of underemployed). The industry sector only provides about 15.6 percent of the labor force.

UP Staff Regent Jossel Ebesate, who works as a nurse at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH),

estimates that the country’s more than 300,000 registered nurses remain either unemployed or “mis-employed,” although Philippine government hospitals need a whopping 300-percent increase in the number of nurses to meet the ideal 1:10 nurse to patients ratio.

These numbers point to what Migrante International (MI), a progressive alliance of migrant Filipinos, calls the “primary push factor” for workers to seek jobs abroad.

Underdevelopment—aggravated by the perennial lack of livelihood, income and opportunities—forces Filipinos to migrate, separating them from their loved ones while working in another country.

“The number of jobless and underemployed Filipinos increased by over 600,000 during President Benigno Aquino III’s first year in office,” the group says in its assessment report.2

Filipino hopes for a better future take them to countries where they think they may improve their economic status, such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, Canada, United Arab Emirates (UAE),

Australia, Malaysia, Japan, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Kuwait. Their flight is most of all a fight for survival.

According to the Phil ippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), a total of 1,470,826 Filipino workers were deployed overseas in 2010. Of this number, 1,123,676 were land-based while 347,150 were sea-based. There were 341,966 who were newly hired, which is 35,007 less than the 2008 figures.3 The data do not include undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whom MI estimates to be as many as 900,000 as of 2007.

MI reports an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Filipino seafarers added to the total deployment every year, while the International Labor Organization (ILO) considers the Philippines as the top source of

seafarers.4 The Philippines ranks fourth among the world’s

top remittance-receiving countries in 2010, next to India, China, and Mexico.5 MI also says that there are 12 million to 15 million Filipinos overseas, and that 30 percent to 40 percent of the entire Philippine population depends on remittances from their relatives abroad.

The December 2010 report of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), meanwhile, shows a total of 9,452,984 Filipinos living abroad, with 4,423,680 of them having a “permanent” status, 4,324,388 classified as “temporary” or overseas due to employment, and 704,916 as “irregular.” The CFO counts the “immigrants, dual citizens or legal permanent residents abroad” as “permanent” while “those not properly documented or without valid residence or work permits, or who are overstaying in a foreign country” are classified as “irregular.”6

The bright sideNot a few alumni and former employees

of the University of the Philippines (UP) have also responded to the many “push factors” of going abroad, which include better opportunities, occupational benefits and living conditions for themselves and their families. One office in UP, for instance, has seen the flight for overseas of four of its younger former employees since 2004.

Pet Acosta, a graduate of UP, worked for the state university for eight years before going to New Zealand. She is now employed in one of the higher education institutions there. “I was lured to live here in New Zealand because of the beautiful and clean environment, good government and social services, and of course, more opportunities and better financial rewards.”

Acosta describes New Zealand as laid-back and family-oriented. “Some companies only require their

employees to work 7.5 hours a day. Some employers also offer ‘work from home’ options to employees with young children. After a year with the company, employees get to enjoy four weeks of paid annual leave.”

“Employers offer flexible working time as long as the required 7.5 work hours are complied with,” Acosta says, “while the absence of road traffic also adds quality time for the family and other personal activities.”

“The government of New Zealand offers a sound social welfare and support system to its people,” she adds. “Poor and rich people can afford the same food. Since elementary to high school education, public health, and most social services are free, families get to spend their money on more essential things.”

For the rank-and-fileAlthough the implementation of the fourth

tranche of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) III already started last June 1, making the minimum pay P9,000, the pay hike of rank-and-file state

FLIGHT, p. 14


employees “is still way behind even the government’s conservative estimate of cost of living which now stands at P29,000,” says Ferdinand Gaite, president of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage).7

According to Gaite, his organization is campaigning for a nationwide P6,000 minimum monthly pay increase for government employees including public school teachers and health workers.

Acosta views government work as among the “most stable jobs” in the Philippines. She says that there is not much disparity in the compensations derived by private sector and government employees doing similar work. “For example, we did not spend much on clothing since we wore uniforms (and had a clothing allowance to cover the cost). We bought reasonably priced meals from nearby food stalls. On the other hand, employees in the business districts spent on trendier clothes and pricier fast-food meals. We also received benefits, such as a hazard pay and a monthly cost of living allowance (COLA) which private sector employees do not enjoy.”

Ian*, another UP graduate who decided to find opportunities abroad, was employed in a couple of government agencies during the past decade. However, he did not find a permanent post and did not get security of tenure since the offices he worked for only offered contractual or casual positions. He is now aiming for long-term employment in Singapore or the Middle East where he thinks his needs could be met.

Vicky* shares Ian’s predicament of having only a temporary employment status in government. She served the public sector for four years before flying to Dubai to allow her to meet her family’s growing needs. “Salary was just enough for the most basic commodities; we could hardly make both ends meet,” she says, adding that her take-home pay was only good for paying off their bills and debts. That is why she decided to work abroad.

Vicky observes that an employee receiving a P5,000 monthly here in the country might be able to earn more than P15,000, in addition to allowances, for doing a similar job in another country. She says that professionals employed overseas could earn P20,000 to more than P500,000 a month.

According to news reports, a ship captain gets more than P500,000 monthly salary while an aircraft captain could receive more than P800,000 a month.8,9

According to Vicky, OFWs in Dubai (and elsewhere) have to endure the loneliness and separation from their loved ones so that they could provide for their needs. She says that professionals can have a good career, depending on their personal circumstances and opportunities available to them. Outside the Philippines, she says, “There are many companies that offer better salaries and benefits. Most companies offer a one-month paid vacation

leave, plus free air fare even for family members. Some companies offer free schooling for children. Countries like Canada and New Zealand have very good provisions for citizens and immigrants. Even skilled workers are empowered and can attain a better life.”

Aside from economic reasons, Vicky decided to leave the Philippines because she no longer sees it as a safe country. “In my hometown in Mindanao, killings have been prevalent. In Manila, holdups, akyat-bahay, pickpocketing, snatching and other crimes have become normal. All of my friends who have lived in Manila have experienced snatching,” she says.

The dark sideIn addition to the already established woes of

OFWs’ becoming victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment, being stranded in conflict zones, neglected without legal assistance, or burdened with paying P20,000 fees even before they could leave the country, MI warns of a decreasing demand for workers abroad. The alliance also criticizes the Aquino administration for pursuing “a more intensified, aggressive and sophisticated labor export policy.”

“The situation of OFWs has gone from bad to worse in Aquino’s two years. There are no indications that he would instill much-needed reforms to curb forced migration and deviate from a policy of labor export,” MI said.

The alliance reports that under Aquino, “four Filipinos were executed abroad in one year. The number of Filipinos on death row has also increased from 108 to 123 and 7,000 Filipinos are languishing in jails abroad without legal assistance. At least 20,000 are stranded and awaiting repatriation in the Middle East.”

The body of an OFW identified as Terril Atienza was returned to the Philippines last December. Her body was reportedly bruised, beaten and burnt, while her heart was missing and a rag was found inside her body. MI said that every month, the organization receives at least two reports of OFWs who died under mysterious circumstances.

Recently, through an online campaign using Facebook, OFW Alfredo Salmos was finally able to go home. Salmos suffered severe injuries due to accidental electrocution while working in Saudi Arabia in 2010. He has not been able to work or sustain his medication since then. He and his friends were able to get the help of government, thanks to social media.

IBON Foundation, in cooperation with MI, discussed the drawbacks and supposed gains of sending laborers abroad. “The Myth of Migration for Development” report states that “the income benefits from remittances for households are arguably considerably offset by the social harm for families due to separation for long periods of time.”10

“The country still suffers economic backwardness despite increasing migration and remittances over the last decades and since the start of the government’s labor export policy in the mid-1970s,” the report states.

NOTES:1 National Statistics Office. (2012, April). Labor Force Survey.

Retrieved June 11, 2012 from http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/2012/lf120202.pdf

2 Migrante International. (2012, June 7). SUMA: Summing-Up of the State of Migrants Under Aquino (2010-June 2012). Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/96254642/SUMA-Summing-Up-of-the-State-of-Migrants-Under-Aquino-2010-June-2012

3 Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. (n.d.). Overseas Employment Statistics 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2012, from http://www.poea.gov.ph/stats/2010_Stats.pdf

4 International Labour Organization. (n.d.). Decent Work for Seafarers. Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-manila/documents/publication/wcms_173266.pdf

5 World Bank. (n.d.). Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1199807908806/Top10.pdf

6 Commission on Filipinos Overseas. (2010). Stock Estimate of Overseas Filipinos. Retrieved June 13, 2012, from http://www.cfo.gov.ph/pdf/statistics/Stock%202010.pdf

7 Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage). (2012, May 1). On Labor Day, Government employees march to press for P6,000 increase. Bulatlat. Retrieved June 13, 2012, from http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/05/01/on-labor-day-government-employees-march-to-press-for-p6000-increase/

8 12,000 jobs available to Filipino seamen despite crisis this year. (2009, January 21). GMA News. Retrieved June 22, 2012, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/145278/pinoyabroad/12-000-jobs-available-to-filipino-seamen-despite-crisis-this-year

9 Recto, Mercene. (2011, May 4). Pilot shortage imperils airline sector. Business Mirror. Retrieved June 22, 2012, from http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/10726-pilot-shortage-imperils-airline-sector

10 IBON Foundation and Migrante International. (2009, July). The Myth of Migration for Development. Retrieved June 13, 2012, from http://iboninternational.org/resources/pages/EDM/75/58

FLIGHT, from p. 123 According to the report, “continued promotion of migration will undeniably increase the number of Filipinos put in vulnerable situations as well as strain already insufficient national and overseas mechanisms for protection.”

In simpler termsAcosta, Vicky and many other overseas Filipinos

like them, hope to see the progress and opportunities they saw abroad become attainable here in the Philippines. For Acosta, “the government should prioritize the welfare of the people. Here in New Zealand, the people enjoy their taxes’ worth through the beautifully-paved roads, free education, health and other social services.”

Vicky proposes the “leveling of employees’ wages to the cost of living, coupled with the provision of better benefits and proper protection.” She says that policy-makers should “create a better system that allows employees to have a progressive career and not just a stagnant job.”

“If employees are given better wages, better benefits and better career paths, I think nobody has to leave,” Vicky says. --------------------

*Real names withheld for confidentialityEmail the author at [email protected].

Now the question is: While they face budget slashes every year, how can SUCs meet the needs of the personnel serving them?

C o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n a n d privatization should and will never be an option. Not only is this a band-aid solution; it also encourages the government to continually decrease the already meager subsidy it gives to these academic institutions.

In order to address these two problems, the solutions would be for the constituents to continually campaign for increases in state subsidy and in wages and salaries.

As the na t ion ’s p remie r

NOTES:1 See Sale, Jonathan P. (2011), Contemporary

employment relations and academic freedom

ROUNDTABLE, from p. 6 university, UP is not only known to set high academic standards but is also recognized for taking a stand and being at the forefront of pressing social issues. Since UP is not in a position to pass laws, it should take this issue to the arena of mass campaign and struggle.

Because UP is an institution that excels in leadership and nationalism, UP administrators, faculty, staff and students must support and join the workers in their fight for immediate increases in wages and salaries.

To achieve this goal, UP can launch activities to support a campaign that must work in this framework: Arouse, Organize and Mobilize. Arousing the

political consciousness of people so that they may be able to understand the issue, be it in the form of a discussion, forum or public debate. Organize a tactical alliance for this particular campaign to gather the supporters of our call. Mobilize these people to spread the issue and draw public attention to the campaign (e.g., protest actions, press conferences).

The outcome, however, does not solely rest on UP. This campaign also requires the involvement of different sectors in society in order to ensure the success of the mass movement.

in the University of the Philippines: convergence and divergence, paper accepted for publication in the 2011 issue of the Philippine Journal of Labor and Industrial Relations. See also Sale, Jonathan P. (2008), Philpost privatization: impact on workers from a socio-legal perspective, Philippine Journal of Labor and Industrial Relations, XXVIII(1 & 2), 150-172.

2 Pangilinan, Francis "Kiko". (n.d.). University of the Philippines Charter of 2008 (R.A. No. 9500): Quest ions & Answers . Retrieved from http://www.kiko.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=56.

3 Republic Act No. 6971.4 Implementing Rules of Rep. Act No. 6971,

Rule I, sec. 3 (p), (q) and (r).5 This is a minimum definition of industrial

democracy according to Michael Poole. See Poole, Michael (1986), Industrial Relations: Origins and Patterns of National Diversity, USA: Routledge & Kegan.


UP SOLAIR professor Dr. Virgel Binghay

MAPPING, from p. 17 leave the organization."6 However, as Cynthia Garcez writes in the AP Lawrence blog, “[a]mazingly, only a few organizations have made job satisfaction a top priority in their overall strategy...Transformed organizations must create a positive workplace for their work force to increase satisfaction on the job.”7

While much has been written about UP as an institution of higher learning and a center for research and public service, comparatively little can be said about UP as a nurturing employer. Given the university’s financial limitations, employee engagement and job satisfaction needed to improve UP’s productivity and organizational efficiency must be sourced from somewhere else. For this, a broad, long-term view of one of the university’s most critical resources must be taken.

Mapping people in UP“In any organization, it is the people who are

important,” said Dr. Virgel Binghay of the UP Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations. “In order to advance the mandate of our Charter, UP as national university must take care of its people. This is not just in terms of compensation or benefits, but in terms of a general perspective: how can an organization manage and lead its people?”

For Binghay, it is essential for the university to have a strategic map when it comes to people-management and human resource management—as essential as, or even more essential than, a financial plan or land-use development plan. “In light of the new agenda of the UP Charter, we must have a coherent blueprint [for human resource management]. This means our strategies and programs to manage people must be aligned with the UP Charter and the overarching vision of UP.” In addition, the blueprint or human resource management plan of the University must include such aspects as human resource planning, recruitment and selection of people, training and development of the work force, compensation and benefits, and employee relations, including relations with the union and the establishment of a seamless system of communication among the work force.

The human resource management and function, in fact, is so critical to any organization that, according to Binghay, in many private corporations and organizations, the human resource department reports directly to the President.

“People are a resource. If your head of finance reports directly to the President, then so does the head of human resources, because people are as important as financial matters. In fact, if you take away the money but retain the people, the people themselves will create the money that has been lost and more. If you manage your people well, it will be your people who will pave the way toward making your organization successful.”

Mapping human resourcesCreating a blueprint for human resource

management requires a clear look at the long-term people-related issues within the University that must be addressed in order for UP to fulfill its mandate.

One vital issue is the structuring of the work force. Given the teaching, research and public service functions of the university and the vision of UP, “how many people do we really need in the university? Where and how can we properly utilize these people? This has to be rationalized [and] prioritized [according to the mandate and vision],” Binghay said. “Given UP’s Charter mandate, we have to examine if the manpower supply we have now meets the manpower demands, be it teaching, non-teaching or support. Ideally, there would be no gaps between manpower supply and demand. Any gap would indicate a problem.”

Prof. Nestor Rañeses, UP assistant vice-president for administration and director of the UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries, also cites the need to “right-size” UP’s work force in keeping with UP’s mission and functions. “UP is a very big organization.

We have about 13,000 people, and 32 percent of these are faculty. All the rest are non-faculty. Just looking at these numbers, we can already see a problem.”

According to Rañeses, in the private sector distinctions are made between mission-direct employees—employees who are directly connected with the production of goods and services of the organization, and mission-indirect employees, which include administrative and support staff. “In a university, the people directly involved with educating students and doing research are the faculty. The more faculty we have, the more students we can teach, the more research we can produce. We can’t produce any of that with administrative staff, although they [support these activities]. Today, we are looking at a faculty-support staff ratio of 1:2. Hopefully we will have a situation where the ratio is 1:1 or even better. How do we make this happen? By reinventing work processes, enriching jobs, and exploiting technology.”

Optimizing jobs in UPAn examination of the current

jobs in UP, and how these could be redesigned to maximize and optimize them, can be done through job analysis, which Binghay describes as a process that examines what, how and why jobs are being done. From the job analysis, updated and relevant job descriptions can be generated and ranked according to their importance to the university’s mission. “Right now, some jobs are already obsolete based on their job descriptions, and we need to make these jobs more relevant."

These updated job descriptions in turn form the basis for a new and more accurate salary scale. These would also form the criteria used in hiring people, including their skills, competence and qualifications for each particular job. “If UP would push for a new salary structure and scale, we need to go through a correct and transparent process whereby the organizational structure, plantilla, and jobs list in the entire university would emanate. This requires a job analysis, then the [generation of] job descriptions, followed by an evaluation of the jobs. Then we can create a new salary grade, based on the input from our studies of the salary scale,” said Binghay.

Other ways of optimizing jobs and promoting operational efficiency is, as Rañeses stated, by reinventing some of the work processes, by making work more flexible, and by simplifying the work. Simplifying work includes restructuring work processes that might be outdated, unnecessarily complicated and wasteful (“we are a paper factory; we produce so much paperwork,” Rañeses comments) by utilizing technology and the Internet—exactly the aims of the UP administration’s initiative dubbed e-UP. Another way to redesign jobs is by operating on the principle of “scrap and build”—that is, by taking jobs on the salary grade scale of 1, 2, 3 or 4, scrapping these, and combining the elements to build a bigger, better job with a bigger salary grade. Other options include outsourcing janitorial and other maintenance jobs to private firms and, even better, cooperatives formed by UP employees, thus freeing UP from the undesirable “labor of contracts” and encouraging entrepreneurial activities among UP employees.

Developing the work forceAlong with the job descriptions, the work force

itself must also be optimized. “From a strategic standpoint, we really should have a very good policy and philosophy on how to make sure we have competent, qualified people,” said Rañeses. “We have to look at the different constituent units and the whole. In fact, we’re finding that we have so many people who are given assignments, but we

don’t give them the required training and competency they need. As a result, they cannot deliver because they were actually not prepared for the job. [Ideally], each job has certain competency requirements, and [comparing] the competency requirements and the job requirements would indicate the gap. This gap is where training should come in.”

Rañeses cites a model often used to plot an employee’s position based on three indicators: performance, or his/her ability to meet targets and goals; behavior, ideally based on UP’s values of excellence, honor, integrity, ethics and service, and which would distinguish UP’s employees from the other government agencies’; and competence, which encompasses knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits.

Taking into consideration the requirements of the job, an employee’s strengths and weaknesses can be mapped out on such a model (good in behavior but poor in performance, or high in competence but low in behavior). The resulting gaps in the employee’s model will reveal where intervention, through training, comes in. “Our premise here is: Why do we want to train our people? So that they become competent. When they become competent, they can perform better and behave according to what is desired. This will result in their good performance, and this will contribute to the good performance of the organization,” said Rañeses.

According to Binghay, there are two types of skills that an organization’s work force must be trained in: the so-called hard or technical skills, and the soft or behavioral skills. Soft skills include skills in communication, leadership, conflict management, customer relations and the like. “Both are equally important, because you can’t rely on technical skills alone. I may know how to operate all these machines and gadgets, but at the end of the day, I must include the professional behaviors that manifest what ought to be,” said Binghay.

One problem, however, is that there seems to be little to no support mechanism within the university to encourage training and the continuing education, development and self-improvement of UP employees. The Civil Service Commission requires 40 hours’ worth of training for government employees—Rañeses contrasts this with progressive organizations' requirement of at least 80 hours’ worth of training—but apparently not a lot of attention is being given to either implementing this or monitoring the kind of training being offered to UP employees.

MAPPING, p. 16


NOTES:1 Intent Blog. (2009, July 22). Job satisfaction: The Story

of the Three Bricklayers [web log message]. Retrieved from http://intentblog.com/job-satisfaction-story-three-bricklayers/

2 Scarlett Surveys International. (n.d.). What is Employee Engagement. Retrieved from http://www.scarlettsurveys.com/papers-and-studies/white-papers/what-is-employee-engagement

3 Garcez, Claudia. (n.d.). Job Satisfaction: The Challenges Transformed Organizations Face. In AP Lawrence. Retrieved from http://aplawrence.com/Misc/job_satisfaction.html#ixzz1zQvHqPuO

4 Korkki, Phyllis. (2010, September 11). Job Satisfaction vs. a Big Paycheck. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/jobs/12search.html?_r=1

5 Gallup. (n.d.). Employee Engagement: A Leading Indicator of Financial Performance. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/consulting/52/employee-engagement.aspx/

6 Ahmed, Ishfaq, Muhammad, Musarrat Nawaz, & Iqbal, Naveed, et.a. (2010, March). Effects of Motivational Factors on Employees Job Satisfaction: A Case Study of University of the Punjab, Pakistan. In The International Journal of Business Management, 5(3).

7 Garcez, Claudia. (n.d.). Job Satisfaction: The Challenges Transformed Organizations Face. In AP Lawrence. Retrieved from http://aplawrence.com/Misc/job_satisfaction.html#ixzz1zQvHqPuO

UP assistant vice-President for administration and UP ISSI director Prof. Nestor Rañeses

MAPPING, from p. 15 In an ironic twist, many UP units that otherwise offer training programs or short non-degree programs to other employees in the public and private sector neglect to offer the same to UP employees.

Leadership in UPTraining in the soft skills, Binghay and Rañeses

both stress, is especially critical to mid-level leaders in the organizational structure—in short, the administrators, the department chairs, the deans, the directors all the way up to the chancellors. These are the people appointed to directly lead and manage people under them. In an organization as big as UP, with a structure that Binghay describes as a pyramid, training and thoroughly preparing middle-level leaders to take on the varied demands of leadership and human relations work is necessary for the organization’s survival as well as the morale of the work force.

“What happens is, people are being promoted [to these leadership positions] who are qualified, but they are not being trained to become good,” said Rañeses. “So they end up working like robots. They are not able to innovate, which results in gaps.” In addition, the lack of training and the relatively quick turnover of administrators and leaders in the organizational hierarchy may also foster a sense of complacency and a culture based on resistance to change among the employees. “You get a leader who isn’t sufficiently trained, and you give him/her a learning curve of six months to one year. By the time he/she has learned the ropes, he/she is already out.”

“Before putting someone in a leadership or managerial position, the person should have undergone rigid training in leadership, management and all the Civil Service rules and regulations,” Binghay emphasized. Being a leader and manager, which is part and parcel of human resource management, is different from being a teacher or researcher. “Your number one role as a leader is to motivate people, to unleash the best in your people by motivating them. It’s your persona and character, your communication skills, the manner that you bring in a climate conducive to productivity and quality,” said Binghay. The top leadership, which is charged with formulating the policies, vision and mission of the organization, may be excellent, but if the middle leadership is weak and unable to motivate and communicate this vision and mission to the work force, then the organization ultimately fails.

Building a career in UP

Another aspect of human resource management that Binghay recommends looking into is the creation of avenues for the creation of career paths for professional non-teaching and administrative staff, similar and equivalent to the well-established career path of UP faculty. Once again, this requires extensive training and continuous learning and development on the part of the employees, initiated and supported by UP’s HR Department and the mid-level leaders from the chancellors to the department chairs, in order to provide non-teaching employees opportunities to learn new skills, improve their competency, and plot the careers they would like to take as part of UP’s work force, with enough flexibility, if needed, to switch from administrative staff or REPS to faculty member or back again.

Other than training, the continuous learning and development of the UP employee may also be facilitated through job rotation—that is, through a system whereby a UP employee from one unit may transfer for a short time to another unit or even campus and learn the ropes there. “We currently have no policy for that, which is exactly what I’m talking about: we need to be creative. It’s one way of learning,” said Rañeses. It is also one way to tear down the silos that tend to exist within the UP System and truly build one UP. “[Job satisfaction and productivity] start with motivation. You love what you’re doing. You have passion. Some people are not doing well because they’re doing jobs that they don’t like. So it’s also important to look at that,” said Binghay. “There is such a thing as career-plateauing, meaning you’ve been doing that job day-in and day-out since time immemorial. That plateauing can result in job burnout, which can result in low productivity, stress and negative behaviors.”

Long-term people-related issuesOne reality UP must face is the fact that its work

force is aging, with more and more people retiring or approaching the age of retirement, and the work force possibly shrinking as a result. According to Binghay, whether this shrinkage is a good thing or not would depend entirely on UP’s strategic plan for human resource management—on whether this fits in with UP’s mandate, vision and mission or not.

“You cannot doi anything about [the aging population], but you have to prepare for it,” said Rañeses. “You have to have organizational development because you have to replenish [the lost work force]. The age of retirement is 65, but some people opt for early retirement at 63.” As an

incentive for people to stay on, the Service Recognition Pay (SRP) has been established, which gives retirees who retire at the age of 65 additional compensation based on their highest monthly salary worth all the years they have worked in UP multiplied by 10.

Binghay also stressed that the mark of a caring, nurturing employing organization is the care it gives its retirees, such as giving priority to employee health care. In UP’s case, this would mean investing in and giving top priority to the maintenance and improvement of the UP Health Service, as well as providing HMOs for UP employees. Another way UP can prepare its employees for life after UP is by encouraging them to band together and form cooperatives (as demonstrated by the UP Provident Fund and the UP Credit Cooperative). UP could lease out a parcel of land to these UP employee cooperatives, which could build a restaurant-franchise on it. Or UP employee-cooperatives can be tapped to supply some of the service and material needs of the university. “The university has many resources,

land in particular,” said Binghay. “We can provide the means for collective endeavor, promote camaraderie and self-reliance and an entrepreneurial spirit among our employees. We should encourage this, because if we rely only on what government provides us, it will never be enough.”

UP can also promote coaching and mentoring not only among junior and senior faculty members, but among junior and senior employees as well. This in turn would help solve the gaps in employee succession. As for the diaspora of UP employees to other universities or workplaces here and abroad, “we should benchmark with those places [they went to],” Binghay counsels, as it is clear that those places offer something to its employees that UP does not. With the best HR practices emanating from the private sector, both Rañeses and Binghay suggest benchmarking with the best corporations, as well as with other universities here and abroad.

In addition to this, there is a critical need for a climate study of UP employment across the UP System. Rañeses, for his part, regards this as a call to action. "UP [must] conduct a system-wide internal customer satisfaction survey to give us a better understanding of our 'pain points' for improvement and our current niveau of job satisfaction and happiness. From here, we can map out our 'Roadmap to Building the Dakilang Uvleng Kawani ng Bayan,'" said Rañeses.

Mga dakilang empleyado ng bayanFinally, there is a need to imbue UP employees

with the same spirit that informs UP students, faculty and alumni. It is this missionary spirit, as Rañeses dubs it, that will transform the life of work for UP employees from the level of a job to a career, and finally, to a calling, which is nothing less than making UP a great university. It begins with imbibing UP’s values through continuous training and learning, and seeing UP's concern for its employees demonstrated in its programs and policies. All these result in psychic income for the UP employee that could very well make up for the lack of monetary income.

As employees, you have to ask “how do you do honor? How do you behave excellently? What is our concept of public service? We have to define our anchors. We have to make the concepts clear,” said Rañeses. “Right now, what is our label for UP employees? For UP students, [their label is] they are ‘iskolar ng bayan.’ For UP faculty, they are excellent faculty. For UP employees? We don’t have an identity yet. We’re just like any other government agency. [But] we must become ‘empleyado ng bayan’.”

For Binghay, it is about having a sense of identity, pride and commitment. “We sing ‘UP Naming Mahal’ and truly mean it. We love UP because it is a caring university. And if you think about it, we only have one life, and for many people, they spend so much of the time of their lives at work. We might as well make the world of work worthwhile and happy.”--------------------



The UP FORUMUniversity of the PhilippinesDiliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 1101

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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

FORUM

Mapping people in UPBy Celeste Ann Castillo llaneta

There is a story often used to portray degrees

of employee engagement and job satisfaction. A man comes upon three bricklayers at work, and asks them, “What are you doing?” The first bricklayer responds, “I am laying bricks.” The second replies, “I am building a wall.” Finally, the third bricklayer answers, “I am helping to build the most beautiful museum the world has ever seen, and people will come from miles just to gaze upon its beauty.”1

All three bricklayers are doing the exact same work, yet the third shows the greatest amount of

Mga empleyado ng bayan: UP employees and members of the All-UP Workers Union

employee engagement and is likely to have the greatest amount of job satisfaction. A white paper by Scarlett Surveys International defines employee engagement, from a management perspective, as “the process of leading people by enabling them to want to do whatever is necessary to ensure the continuous high performance and success of the business.” From the employees’ perspective, “engagement is their attitudinal and emotional state developed from experiences perceived to be controlled by management."2

Jensen (2000) defines job satisfaction as "a sense of personal growth most often measured by the extent of new challenges and learning situations experienced."3 Employee engagement and job

satisfaction contribute greatly to the well-being of individual workers—in some cases, even more so than the monetary compensation they receive.4 In addition, the direct link between employee engagement and the company or organization’s success have been cited often enough.

In its own and others’ research, Gallup found engaged employees to be “more productive, more profitable, profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and more likely to withstand temptations to leave,” while actively disengaged employees “erode an organization’s bottom line while breaking the spirits of colleagues in the process.” In world-class organizations, the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is over 9:1, while in average

organizations, the ratio is nearly 2:1. In the US work force, Gallup estimates the cost as over $300 billion in lost productivity alone. “The best-performing companies know that an employee engagement improvement strategy linked to the achievement of corporate goals will help them win in the marketplace.”5

Similarly, job satisfaction has been found to be “an important element from organizational perspective, as it leads to higher organizational commitment of employees and high commitment leads to overall organizational success and development, additional growth, effectiveness and efficiency of the organization, and low employees' intentions to

MAPPING, p. 15

Photo from the U

P System Inform

ation Office

UP Forum May-June 2012

Documents

Transcript of UP Forum May-June 2012