Labor woes percolate

Thousands of workers at the Hermosa Economic Zone are calling on labor authorities to investigate their plight, as their foreign employer has allegedly failed to provide them with their bonuses and 13th-month pay.

The ecozone workers reached out to DAILY TRIBUNE to voice their grievances against a Japanese firm that habitually withholds a portion of the bonuses legally due to them.

According to the workers, instead of receiving their full bonus, their employer deducts their absences, even if these were officially approved leaves.

Meanwhile, at the DPWH Regional Office 11, field personnel reportedly did not receive their bonuses at all.

The personnel accused a department head of withholding their bonuses for unknown reasons.

DBM Budget Circular 2016-4, dated 28 April 2016, outlines the rules and regulations governing the grant of year-end bonuses and cash gifts.

The year-end bonus is equivalent to one month’s basic pay as of 31 October, and the cash gift of P5,000 shall be given to government personnel no earlier than 15 November yearly.

The rules and regulations also specify that the year-end bonus and cash gift shall be given to qualified personnel, subject to conditions, including personnel who rendered at least four months of service from 1 January to 31 October and remained in government service as of 31 October of the same year.

Time to buy a condo

It is a buyer’s market for condominiums amid a rising glut of unsold inventory. Available units are at a multi-year high, and demand is forecast to weaken so much that the number of units expected to come on the market in key areas by 2027 is only 13 percent of this year’s total and 7.5 percent of the recent peak in 2017.

Real estate consultancy Colliers Philippines indicated that it will take 98 months, or more than eight years, to clear the backlog across Metro Manila.

The oversupply was blamed on the introduction and subsequent banning of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and the weakening purchasing power of the middle class since the Covid-19 pandemic.

POGOs were legalized in 2016 during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Many of these catered to the Chinese market, resulting in thousands of Chinese workers flooding the country and leasing condos in Metro Manila. Many paid in cash upfront, providing a boon to developers. Foreigners cannot own land in the Philippines but are allowed to buy condominiums and townhouses.

At the same time, the domestic economy — supported by healthy remittances from overseas workers and low borrowing costs — was robust. This meant that many middle-class Filipinos could afford condos in the capital.

Then the pandemic struck in 2020. Remittances barely dipped, but POGO demand softened, and the purchasing power of the middle class took a significant dive.

Over the following two years, the mismatch increased as construction prices rose, and the spending power of the middle class faded further. Government research showed Filipinos’ purchasing power has dropped by 21 percent since 2019.

Last year, the market suffered another major blow when POGOs were banned, triggering an exodus of foreign workers, especially Chinese. At the end of last year, the available inventory was 74,000 units, or 8.2 times the takeup.

In financial terms, the value of unsold condos ready for occupancy at the end of last year was P158.2 billion, an increase of 372 percent from the 2020 figure.