Gender pay gap remains to be a problem, especially in the agriculture sector, where female farmworkers were paid less than their male counterparts.
Citing 2018 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Center for Women Resources (CWR) said men in agriculture were paid P310.16 per day, while women received P285.51 daily.
"Itong panahon ni Duterte ang pinakamaliit na wage hike at pinakamalayon agwat 2018, sa loob ng tatlong taon ng pandemya ay walang wake hike (During Duterte's time, we experienced the the smallest wage hike and the farthest gap between women and men. We just experienced two wage hikes, in 2017 and in 2018, there was no wage hige during the three-year pandemic)," CWR Research Officer Justine Siscar said.
"Hanggang sa kasalukuyan nag-e-exist yung gender pay gap (Up to the present, the gender wage gap exists)," Siscar added, noting that women are paid 90 cents for every one peso paid to men.
In 2021 PSA data, it was found that the employment rate for men was higher at 93.7 percent than among women at 93 percent.
"Itong bilang ng mga walang trabaho sa bansa, comparison ng 2019 to 2021, papataas talaga yung bilang ng kababaihan na walang trabaho (The number of unemployed people in the country, comparison of 2019 to 2021, is increasing)," Siscar added.
Meanwhile, Siscar said the labor force participation rate of women went up to 54 percent in December 2021, compared to just 49 percent in July 2016.
Conservative estimate
However, Cathy Estavillo, secretary-general of Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women, believes it was still a "conservative estimate."
"Hindi lahat ng manggagawang bukid nakakatanggap ng ganyan, lalo na sa panahon ng pandemic dahil napakalawak yung kawalan ng trabaho dahil nag-lockdown, hindi nakakalabas yung ating mga nanay para magtrabaho sa bukid. Yung realidad, mataas pa nga yung sinabi ng CWR (Not all farmworkers receive that, especially during the pandemic because unemployment is high because of the lockdown, especially for mothers who can't go out to work on the farm. What CWR said is still a bit high)," Estavillo told Manila Bulletin.
"Sa mga lugar kung saan nandun yung mga manggagawa naming bukid, lalo na sa tubuhan, ay umaabot lang sa P110 ang per day nila at ang kalalakihan, P115 to P120 (In sugarcane fields, women earn P110 per day, while men earn P115 to P120)," she added.
For rice grains bought in bulk, female farmworkers just get paid as low as P50, according to Estavillo.
What needs to be done?
Estavillo echoed calls to increase the national minimum wage to P750. Metro Manila has remained stuck at P537 for over four years now.
"Yun yung dapat sahod ng mga manggagawang bukid, lahat ng mga manggagawa natin. Napakalayo pa rin sa livable minimum wage na P1,209 na sinasabi ng IBON (Farmworkers should be paid the same amount. But it's still very far from the livable meaning wage of P1,209 that IBON suggests)," she asserted.
"Mas matindi yung realidad na hanggang ngayon ay mayroon pa ring sumasahod ng P110 to P120 per day na napakabigat na klase ng trabaho (What's worse is that, in reality, there are still farmers who earn P110 to P120 per day and as we know, farming is a very heavy work)."