She promised no miracles when she assumed the presidency via a popular uprising in 2001.

Faced with dire economic straits at the start of her term, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instead pledged to do her best to create more jobs, one of her priorities to reduce poverty and propel economic growth.

“I am not a miracle worker. But I will do what is right and I will do my best. Let us all do what is right, let us all do what is best and God will take care of the rest,” she said in her first State of the Nation Address in 2001.

Nine years later, the unpopular President managed to pull off a number of feats, including the generation of millions of new jobs, decline in labor strikes, and facilitation of higher salaries for workers, even in the face of growing population and global financial slowdown.

The country's underemployment rate and deployment of Filipino workers abroad, on the other hand, increased during term of the Arroyo government despite its widely touted job generation programs.

The President’s efforts to advance the welfare of the labor sector likewise appeared wanting as labor groups remain restive about their meager incomes not rising fast enough to meet the soaring cost of living.

Labor Day has always been a red-letter day for the President as workers continue to demand reasonable wage increases, end to contractualization, better working environment, and other reforms. This year’s Labor Day rites will be no different as labor organizations are expected to hold similar protest actions to denounce the alleged anti-labor policies of the Arroyo government.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, however, defended the Arroyo government, saying it has made great strides to promote the welfare of Filipino workers here and abroad in the last nine years.

Roque said the President has given as much as she can in advancing the interests of the Filipino workforce since her tenure started in 2001.

“She is pro-worker. She always thinks of the benefits for the workers, what more can be granted to workers while balancing the economic situation,” Roque said in an interview.

Asked to score the President’s performance in the labor sector from 1 to 10 with 10 as the highest, Roque gave the President a rating of 9 for her hard work and contributions to the workforce. “I have seen the President work, how she looks after the welfare of workers,” he said.

Roque admitted though that the President is unlikely to talk about wage increases for workers in her final Labor Day celebration on Saturday, saying she has always left the matter to regional wage boards to determine.

He said the President instead is expected to give more non-wage benefits for workers, including livelihood assistance, to ease their burden amid tough economic times.

Labor sector dissatisfied
Despite getting a 90% passing mark from the DoLE secretary, the labor sector expressed dissatisfaction with President Arroyo.

Nine years of President Arroyo in power has not improved the labor sector, was the general assessment of labor organizations, unions, and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) groups who believe that more is wanting under the Arroyo government.

President Arroyo is stepping down from Malacañang in a few more weeks after the May election but has yet to please the country’s laborers, particularly on issues of employment, wages, and retrenchment of workers resulting from privatization, proliferation of contractualization of labor, speedy labor justice and even trade union rights and issues of extra-judicial killings.

“In terms of performance, there are several factors to be considered here. But the labor sector in general is not happy of what is happening in our country. During this time, labor is the most beleaguered sector. I don’t think the administration will rate well among labor groups,” says former senator Ernesto Herrera, secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the biggest confederation of labor federations that boasts of 1.2 million members.

“In a scale of one to 10, the Arroyo government is a five (5) for us. While there are many laws that were created under her time, the problem is enforcement. That’s where we are lacking. Contractualization, for example, is illegal, but look at it, ang daming cases nakatambak sa National Labor Relations Committee (NLRC) at sa Supreme Court. But are we even enforcing the law?’’ he asks.

Julius Cainglet, spokesperson of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), one of the longest running labor groups in the country, has a similar plaint. “In terms of speedy labor justice, we saw how thousands of labor cases were stranded at different levels from the NLRC to the appellate courts and until the Supreme Court. Contractualization of labor proliferated under this regime.”

“If we base the administration’s performance on how it was able to create an enabling environment for trade unions to flourish, in conditions of freedom and equity, with the right to bargain collectively and the right to strike, we seem to find it wanting,” says Cainglet.

Yuen Abana, executive committee member of labor party-list Partidong Manggagawa (PM), says the labor sector under Mrs. Arroyo is only secondary despite its key role in ensuring a better economy.

“If we are builders of economy as they say, dapat priority dito ay ang kapakanan ng workers. Pero lagi na lang marginalized ang workers lalo’t pag dating sa policies,” she says.

John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of Migrante Middle East, one of the more active OFWs’ chapters alliance, echoes that the sector’s contribution to the economy is unmatched but that government’s anti-labor policies were always targeted at the workers. (Genalyn Kabiling and Shianee Mamanglu)