Setting rules on standing, seating

Kapupusan na ning bulan napun at pigmasusyan da ing awsan dang Halloween e mu karing aliwang bangsa nung e pati na mu naman keti Pilipinas at keti Kapampangan.

Ngening mumunang aldo ning kalading-metung a bulan o Nobyembri, king panaun ning Daun o Aldo da ring Sablang Banal angga na kabukasan o Aldo da ring Sablang Kaladwa— akasanayan da na reng kabalen ta mu at kabangsa kambe da ring miyayaliwang kasalpantayanan o kelang-kasalpantayanan karing miyayaliwang kalinangan mabilug a yatu— pakatingid la ding keraklan karing makatakut.

Ating pisasabyan da’t isipan ila ring maglalage, magkukutud, mangkukulam, kularyut, pugut, aswang, kapri, patyanak at nunu karing pungsu. Pane makatakut. Alben da reng tau at papalage da karing sine at TV pane mu naman makatakut. Kaburi da naman deng tau ing mitatakutan at atin pa ping asno kaburi kareng manyipsip dayang mete nang mabibye pa.

Mengari mu naman keng

FIRST, it banned the requirement of high heels for women in sales work. Second, it created a rule to require a break from prolonged sitting. Next could be setting aside regulations on hairstyle and attire.

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) has been doing some work without much fanfare but with a lot of impact. Its rules against the high heels and prolonged sitting have long been wished for by employees in government and the private sector but may have been considered as trivial by past administrations. Current labor officials knew that addressing the state of the labor force does not always have to be about pay increases, allowances or tax exemptions.

Last September 24, Department Order 178 signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III took effect. The order removed the requirement of wearing high heels for workers who are required to stand for long periods of time. These are sales women in malls, department stores and retail outlets.

Bello had said the order addresses the health and safety concerns of workers. True. The questions that cropped up after the order was released were on what triggered the decision or how the ruling came

pamanalbe dang makalungkut o makatula. Deng tau pigagawan da ing daranasan dang lungkut, tula pati na takut. E kaborbolenan ing manalbe kang malungkut a piyalben o makirandam kang malumbe dalit kaybat kyak-kyak kang bala muret? E kabolangan ing manalbe kang makatakut potang kai alino mu man mitatakutan la?

Bala pigagawan da o sarya dang pantunan deng tau ing kaplas dang balat. Kaybat mag-post la keng Facebook a emoji a mamagus la lwa keng kyak. Pigagawan da na mu reng aliwa ing lasa dang balat. Antita mu naman ing miyalal kang balu mu na sira buntuk a tau. Kaybat kulang namu paymate ka ba’meng apagmalasakit. Dakal ka pakipaten uling dakal a magsisti kaya.

Datang ing penandit a sisisi na ka mu uling asna pala karagul ing kamalyan mung memili keng maturak-turak. O kasi lakwas ka pang turak kaya uling pinili me, e.

Makanyan man, nung buri tamu sikanan pilubluban, tepangan at about or did men try wearing high heels for hours, and why only now. No matter how the decision was reached, the removal of the high heels requirement was overdue.

Then, the Labor department came out last week with another ruling, this time for the grant of five-minute breaks for every two hours of work sitting down. Department Order 184 of Bello told companies to protect their workers from the risks of prolonged sitting. The order also encouraged workers to reduce sedentary work by interrupting sitting time and substituting it with standing and walki ng.

A SunStar Philippines report on the kelang kakarugan malyari tamung akwa ita at e ta na danasan pa ing takut o nanu mang kapigaganakan.

Ing pengaku ning Kakatastkatasang panginwan kekatamu king Dalit na, Dangka 18, Sunis 65:

”Parati mu Kung isipan at magi kang talasuyu Ku. Samban mu Ku at midaun kang pamigalang Kanaku. Kanita dasnan Mu kung alang kamalyan. Pangaku Ku keka ini uling ika ing Kanakung pekamakamal a kakaluguran.

Lakwan mo ngan ding sablang kauryan ding kapanyamban at sumuku ka Kanaku. Ikabus da ka karing sablang kablas ding kasalanan. E ka tatakut.”

E ta na sukat mitakutan pa keng nanu mang bage o ninu mang tau o nanu mang lelangan. Alang nanu mang makatagin kekatamu uling ipanglwalu na katamu ning Pekadakilang diling Talapanglwalu tamu ngan. Ikabus Na katamu. E ta na tatakut. order said employers have to ensure that the places where people work are designed to provide space for sittingstanding and ease in mobility.

If work is down in the lower floors, then the canteen could be at the top floor to force employees to take the stairs if there are no elevators. Restrooms could also be positioned at the end of hallways to force people to walk for their restroom breaks. These are the ways to do it, although the Labor department did not dictate on what companies should do.

Health issues related to having sedentary lives are musculoskeletal disorders, high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, diabetes, and obesity. Guidelines on this will take effect late in November.

It is not true that banning high heels and having required standing time are trivial matters. These are matters not of the same import as, perhaps, a 10 percent across-theboard pay increase or tax exemption for workers. But they are non-monetary privileges that increase the person’s worth.

Recognizing that a person’s comfort and health are important are compensation also for their contribution to the company and the economy. That is no small matter.

SALVADOR Panelo, chief presidential legal adviser, was about to end an interview with Karin Wenger of the Swiss National Public Radio & Television (NPRT) and Ana Santos, its local correspondent. Wanting to wind up with a “witty banter,” he cracked a joke.

The sex-laced joke bombed. The interviewers didn’t understand what he meant and criticized it as “inappropriate” and held no respect for women and the government. Gabriela called it tasteless. National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) rapped Panelo for blaming the journalists. Coming soon after Martin Andanar, chief of the Presidential Communication Operations Office, spiced his talk with Filipino overseas workers in London, it presented two of the president’s men in shoddy light.

He shouldn’t have

Panelo shouldn’t have made that kind of a joke, not in an interview with journalists he wasn’t sure would appreciate it, who might even resent it as sexist and offensive, as the two broadcast reporters did.

He said he had used the joke with Malacañang reporters and they laughed. Not a reliable gauge. The Palace guys are journos who’re familiar with his quirks and rely on him as a source: they’d roll with mirth over any joke he’d dish out.

Comedians can tell Panelo that a joke the comic has to explain isn’t worth the risk of telling. And Panelo had to tell us how play of the cuss word “f**k” made it funny.

What was needed

His joke required the listener to focus on the word and the joke teller to pronounce the word well. Panelo must have confused his “p” with his “f”: the second “f**k” should’ve been “pack” but didn’t sound it, the vowel after each being different. Or he deliberately used the swear word in both, trusting they’d take the cue. But the NPRT reporters didn’t.

Regarding context, the preface to the joke was this: He was asked if he could play the piano. Yes, he could, and sing and dance too. But, he offered, he was “better in bed.” How so? one NPRT journalist asked. The key words before the punchline were “bed” and two “f**k.”

Entertainers

It would’ve been funny. The first part about his being better in bed and ability to “f**k” like an 18year-old was to condition the listener’s mind to a sexual ending. Then wham, the surprise: the energy turns out to be in packing clothes (because he travels a lot), not what the audience was prepared for. A basic formula in comedy writing, unemployedas-comic Eddie Barrita tells us.

What’s to blame? Must be in the delivery or pacing. Or the listeners who were not used to that sort of funny material, especially from a high government official.

Panelo should keep his jokes among the boys or girls who understand them. Or he can play the piano or sing and dance instead.

Apparently, Panelo belongs to the administration’s growing stable of entertainers. Keep the nation entertained and things would look better than they are.