Labor leader and senatorial candidate Leody de Guzman on Sunday, March 10, said special envoy to China Ramon Tulfo is all talk while Filipino workers labor for the country’s growth. This was after Tulfo called Filipino workers “lazy” unlike the Chinese.
In a statement, De Guzman said, “Kaya nga tinawag na manggagawa, kasi nga gumagawa. Walang ibang dahilan ng pag-unlad ng ekonomiya ng bansa liban sa manggagawang Pilipino (That’s why they are called workers, because they work. There is no other reason behind the improvement of the economy but the Filipino workers).”
“Kung masipag man itong si Tulfo, ito ay kasipagan niyang magsalita at mang-intriga. Malayong malayo sa manggagawa na lumilikha ng produkto at serbisyong may pinakikinabangan ng lahat ng tao (If Tulfo is hardworking, it’s about talk and intrigue, which is far from workers who create products and services that people benefit from),” he added.
Tulfo on Thursday, March 7, claimed that Chinese workers “are better” than Filipino workers during an interview with CNN Philippines’ “On The Record.”
“Do you know why the developers prefer Chinese workers? Because they are hardworking. The Filipino workers, pardon me, when they go to the job site, that’s only the time they would prepare their tools — whereas the Chinese workers are already prepared — and then they always smoke cigarettes and talk nonstop,” he said.
Erin Tañada, another senatorial bet, also slammed Tulfo for his remarks.
“Masipag ang Pinoy (The Filipino is hardworking),” he said on Sunday.
“Huwag namang kapwa Pilipino at opisyal pa ng pamahalaan ang maglalaglag sa ating mga manggagawang Pilipino. Ginoong Tulfo, magtrabaho ka po para sa ating mga mamamayan (I hope it’s not a fellow Filipino and an official of government who will betray our Filipino workers. Mr. Tulfo, please work for our countrymen),” he added.
Immersion challenge
A group of construction workers has challenged Tulfo to “man up” by spending three days at a work site for saying Filipino laborers are lazy.
Alan Tanjusay of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines shared a note from construction workers representing workers in the Construction Industry Tripartite Council, calling the government official out and challenging him.
According to the workers, they would wait for Tulfo to report to any construction site in Metro Manila for a three-day immersion to give him a better understanding of their situation.
“Come live and work with us for three days before you make your conclusions. We have alerted all our members in Metro Manila to assist and accommodate you wherever… you may want to immerse [yourself],” they said on Monday.
They also asked why Tulfo didn’t verify when Chinese contractors called Filipino workers inefficient.
“We, the people, didn’t give you the mandate and authority as Philippine special envoy to China to embarrass and destroy our reputation before our families and to the whole world,” they said.
“If Chinese contractors told you that Filipino workers are inefficient and are slowpokes, why didn’t you verify it? Why didn’t you even defend your fellow Filipinos from these foreign Chinese contractors? You didn’t even check that even the Chinese construction workers we have worked with, as well as other foreign workers, are also slow workers because of the high stress and hard work in the heat, cold and harsh conditions at work sites,” they added.
The workers pointed out that critical infrastructure would not have been built if not for the workers that Tulfo labeled lazy.
“Will we have built all the important and critical infrastructures on time if we were ‘inefficient’ and ‘slowpokes’ as you claim us to be? Do you even know how low [our] salaries are? Do you even know how hard and dangerous it is to dangle [from the] top of the 75th floor of a building just so a project can be completed on time?” they asked.
As maintained by the National Wages and Productivity Commission, the minimum wage for non-agricultural workers is P280 a day in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and P537 a day in the National Capital Region. Adjusting for inflation and prices, the wage would actually be P220.13 for ARMM and P459.76 for NCR a day.
Freedom of expression
Malacañang, meanwhile, won’t castigate Tulfo for his disparaging statement.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Tulfo’s comments against Filipino workers is “freedom of expression.”
“Well, that is freedom of expression. Everyone is entitled to make his opinion on any matter concerning the country or the people or anybody,” he said in a Palace press briefing.
According to Panelo, Tulfo is a responsible man who doesn’t need to be advised.
However, he added that he did not agree with Tulfo.
“Definitely, Filipinos are industrious. The impression abroad is that we’re industrious, but on a personal level, there are hardworking workers, there are lazy workers. But the general impression is we’re hardworking, we are preferred in other countries.”
