EDITORIAL Non-inclusive economy, non-inclusive presidency
Not very long after he rejected proposed increases in the monthly benefits of Social Security System pensioners, many of whom receive no more than P1,200 a month, President Aquino granted hefty raises in the salaries of SSS officials. Then, not long after he approved increases in tax exemptions for balikbayan boxes sent home by overseas Filipino workers, many of whom are nurses working in foreign hospitals, Aquino vetoed a bill that would have given pay raises to nurses working here.
Where in heaven is the heart of President Aquino? Or perhaps more appropriately, where is his brain? Aquino cannot be president of only one or two favored sectors in Philippine society. He is the president of all 100 million plus Filipinos, including those he apparently cannot have, for whatever reason, any feelings for. It is his responsibility to look after the interests of everyone.
There is no begrudging the tendency of the national government to maintain a partiality toward OFWs. With billions of dollars in remittances, it is difficult for the national government not to feel a partiality for OFWs, a partiality that goes way back to several presidencies. After all, what is good for the economy is also good for any presidency. Needing to demonstrate gratefulness, tax exemptions are in fact only a small token measure to show appreciation.
Extending benefits to OFWs are therefore never any problem. If there is a need to do even more, then they must be done at once. We start to have a problem when the same national government that seems very demonstrative of its appreciation for OFWs does not exhibit the same enthusiasm when it comes to workers here at home. To be very blunt about it, Philippine domestic workers are among the most abused and less appreciated in the world.
Just consider the SSS pensioners. They may be retired now, but they used to work just as hard as OFWs for many times lower the pay. If there are 10 million Filipinos overseas, there are tens of millions more at home. If OFWs help prop up the economy, domestic workers do so much more - they form the very backbone of the economy. Without them the economy would collapse. Without them, OFW remittances will mean nothing.
And yet domestic workers are being given a raw deal by the national government. Beneficiaries of the government's cash doleout program get more monthly aid for doing nothing than SSS retirees. Domestic nurses are being paid peanuts and will continue to do so after the Aquino veto, and all because the heart of Aquino is in the wrong place and his mind is somewhere else.
The president cannot appreciate the simple fact that local nurses play a vital role in keeping the nation healthy. Aquino completely misses the point that his presidency is only as stable as the health of the nation. In Africa, where health has always been a problem, the leadership of nations often changes as quickly as the onset of the next disease. Sad to say, our own president seems oblivious to such matters. Thus, on the domestic front, his six-year presidency was a complete waste.
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