By Erika Denise Dizon and Alyosha Robillos
ST. JUDE PARISH—police do their rounds in herding away street vendors that loiter around the area but allow them to remain for a measly amount.
For some people in the Philippine labor force’s informal sector which is mainly composed of street vendors, home-based workers, “pedicab” drivers, non-corporate construction workers and other own-account employees, everyday is tariff day.
“For me to be able stay here and sell my merchandise, I pay the police 10 to 20 pesos every Thursday,” revealed Aracelie Ramos, a vendor of religious items stationed across La Consolacion University.
Ramos is not the only one the police have victimized. In fact, most vendors would also hand over money on a regular basis to prevent the officers from confiscating items on display, while others admitted to hiding whenever the police were around.
“Every time a raid would happen, I would have to shell out around 100 pesos just to keep my things,” kwek-kwek and fishballs vendor Alec Samson unveiled.
Samson narrated the time his wooden cart used for cooking was taken away from him after an unanticipated storming. “I had to beg for my frying pan back,” he said.
It seems that higher earning street vendors pay a lot more than their small time neighbors since the police could confiscate anything without restriction and vendors with higher incomes could give more.
In 2009, the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) proved that more than half of the country’s 33 million workforce was underemployed. Unfortunately, the informal sector still remained a big chunk of the labor force in the first quarter of 2010, the Labor Force Survey (LRS) showed.
In July this year, according to the LRS, the labor force was estimated to 39 million, 64 percent of the projected 60 million Filipinos above the age of 15. Out of this total, 34.8 percent was listed under the own-account workers category, pointing out that more than half of the Philippine labor force remains to be underemployed.
People like Ramos understand the government’s need to control unlicensed commerce but she and her co-vendors believe that there is still room for compromise.
“I earn an honest living. I don’t steal, unlike the policemen who come here. I’m willing to get a permit but I don’t have the means and offices, in general, don’t mind people without money. This is why we have the government. They should be looking into this,” Ramos said.
Ramos is not the only one the police have victimized. In fact, most vendors would also hand over money on a regular basis to prevent the officers from confiscating items on display, while others admitted to hiding whenever the police were around.
“Every time a raid would happen, I would have to shell out around 100 pesos just to keep my things,” kwek-kwek and fishballs vendor Alec Samson unveiled.
Samson narrated the time his wooden cart used for cooking was taken away from him after an unanticipated storming. “I had to beg for my frying pan back,” he said.
It seems that higher earning street vendors pay a lot more than their small time neighbors since the police could confiscate anything without restriction and vendors with higher incomes could give more.
In 2009, the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) proved that more than half of the country’s 33 million workforce was underemployed. Unfortunately, the informal sector still remained a big chunk of the labor force in the first quarter of 2010, the Labor Force Survey (LRS) showed.
In July this year, according to the LRS, the labor force was estimated to 39 million, 64 percent of the projected 60 million Filipinos above the age of 15. Out of this total, 34.8 percent was listed under the own-account workers category, pointing out that more than half of the Philippine labor force remains to be underemployed.
People like Ramos understand the government’s need to control unlicensed commerce but she and her co-vendors believe that there is still room for compromise.
“I earn an honest living. I don’t steal, unlike the policemen who come here. I’m willing to get a permit but I don’t have the means and offices, in general, don’t mind people without money. This is why we have the government. They should be looking into this,” Ramos said.
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