First of two parts
Looking back to the first quarter of 2020, when Covid-19 cases hit the country, the immediate response of the Philippine government through the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) was the imposition of prolonged lockdowns, curfews, and restrictions on the movement of individuals. While these public health measures were intended to control the spread of the virus and slow down community transmission, they also had the effect of severely undermining the ability of urban poor families to make ends meet.
It was difficult for many families, especially the poor. This sentiment was often voiced during interviews with non-government organizations, community and government workers in urban poor communities in Metro Manila and Bulacan.
Family breadwinners and income earners, usually males, were forced to stay at home and were prevented from reporting to work. Daily wage earners and those employed in the informal economy, such as retail and ambulant vendors, porters, jeepney and tricycle drivers, construction and fish port workers, lost their income. Even when food and agricultural produce were available it was impossible to get goods to the market due to the absence of public transportation and restrictions on inter-province travel.
With a significant decline in the population’s purchasing power, hunger and food insecurity worsened, especially among the poor. As pointed out by one Navotas City resident: “We are a fishing community, but despite fisherfolks continuing with their fishing activities during the pandemic, we found it difficult to sell our catch since most people cannot buy food due to job loss.”
Government data revealed that after the imposition of lockdowns and curfews throughout the country during the first year of the pandemic, about 4.5 million workers became unemployed, registering the highest unemployment figure in 15 years.
About one-third of Filipino women employed in the informal economy became jobless during the first half of 2020. Employed usually as ambulant/sidewalk vendors, food servers, salesladies, domestic helpers, and street sweepers, urban poor women lost their sources of income which they have persistently maintained despite the lack of job security, low pay, and absence of social protection, features of work in the informal economy.
Multiple burdens, multiple challenges
When the community quarantine classification was lowered, allowing people to commute and travel, urban poor women encountered problems and difficulties looking for alternative sources of income because of their low level of educational attainment and limited skills. Since they also bore the brunt of domestic chores and childcare, including the supervision of children’s education with the shift to homeschooling because of the closure of schools and daycare centers, women’s multiple burdens were aggravated making it even more difficult to look for work.
Survival under these circumstances primarily depended on the “ayuda” or the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) launched by the national government under the Bayanihan toHeal as One Act with the Department of Social Welfare and Development as lead implementor.
The SAP, intended as a cash transfer program to alleviate the economic impact of the lockdowns on the poor and the jobless, was criticized for its flawed implementation. The P5,000 to P8,000 monthly cash subsidy to low-income families for two consecutive months was pointed out as being insufficient for urban poor families in Metro Manila. In February 2020, based on computations by the Ibon Foundation, the monthly family living wage with five members in Metro Manila was pegged at P31,089 (US$609) or P1,022/day (US$20). Based on this figure, it was estimated that a family of five will need P14,798 (US$290) a month just for food expenses alone.
The strategies adopted by the government in the distribution of cash aid to urban poor residents were also highly criticized. The absence of an accurate and updated database of qualified beneficiaries in many barangays or communities marred the distribution with discrimination, favoritism and politicking. Urban poor families believed or known to be supporters of the opponents of incumbent local government officials or affiliated with the political party of the opposition were excluded from the list of recipients. There were also media reports and complaints posted on social media of families not receiving the full amount intended to the qualified beneficiaries. Cases of urban poor residents being given just half of the P8,000 or not the full amount of the subsidy by barangay officials, and the delayed and slow distribution of the cash aid were also common complaints.
As pointed out by a community leader in Bulacan, “You cannot receive relief aid if you are not close and not aligned with the local official.” The interviewees observed that barangay officials' political and personal vendetta towards constituents who they know did not vote for them in the last election influenced the distribution of relief packs.
“The palakasan or patronage system was very apparent in the distribution of aid which shows how unjust and unfair the implementation of programs and aid was. For example, families who are friends of local government officials or local community leaders can get up to two stubs (used to claim food packs) while others only receive one stub,” the Bulacan community leader added.
The necessity of 'diskarte'
Since the cash aid and relief goods were barely enough for urban poor families to survive, wives, mothers, and even grandmothers persisted in looking for ways to provide for the family's essential needs.
Under these challenging times, women demonstrated creativity and resourcefulness, referred to as “diskarte” or finding opportunities to put food on the table. They resorted to various means like borrowing money from loan sharks, soliciting food from neighbors and relatives, engaging in on-call household chores like cleaning the house, washing and ironing clothes of their relatively well-off neighbors.
Some women received cash aid from the Church and nongovernmetal organizations to start a micro-business like online selling ready-to-eat food, face masks, face shields, etc. Others used the cash aid from the SAP received from the local government unit as start-up capital. Those without money offered their services to sell items produced by others in exchange for a commission or consignment basis.
“Each one had to find ways to survive” was how a Barangay Health Worker (BHW) in Navotas City described how urban poor women adapted to survive under the pandemic.
A resident of a slum community in Bulacan also said, “Many people in our community are hardworking and entrepreneurial. We find creative ways to earn money and provide food for our families. We also help each other out.”
There were also cases of poor women whose determination to earn an income, no matter how measly, took the risk of leaving the house even during the lockdowns. This is particularly true of women involved in repacking garlic, ground pepper, and onions in Bulacan. They have to travel to Metro Manila to deliver these items to intended buyers or sell these in bulk to sari-sari store owners. For example, women able to repack a kilo of garlic into small packs earn P20 pesos (US$0.39). If they can repack five kilos of garlic a day, they receive P100 pesos (US$1.96). Even if it is not their assigned days to go out in the barangay, women risk leaving their houses to sell their wares. To escape apprehension by law enforcers, they would run away or take a different route when they see local authorities guarding checkpoints and inspecting travel documents.
Out of desperation, many older women would insist on engaging in their pre-pandemic jobs as laundry washers where washing is done right outside their houses. They would argue with barangay officials about violating lockdown restrictions and sometimes end up in detention.
One interviewee, a community leader in Manila, said her friend's experience who sent pictures of her breasts to a foreigner via online chat in exchange for payment. The woman’s husband consented and rationalized that “It’s just boobs” in exchange for money badly needed to provide for the family’s basic needs.
Many governments globally have failed to recognize the differential impact of Covid-19 on women and men. The overriding paradigm in formulating and implementing public health policies uses a male perspective, turning women invisible and putting them in a precarious and disadvantageous position. In many significant ways, the pandemic has further aggravated the unequal status of women in society.
The imposition by the government of economic, political, security, and social restrictions in response to the pandemic has further aggravated the multiple burdens of women, depriving them of the enjoyment of their rights. However, with their resolve to provide for the needs of their families, especially children and the elderly, urban poor women have demonstrated their strength, creativity, and resourcefulness under a harsh and challenging environment in the name of survival. END
Nymia Pimentel Simbulan is a Doctor of Public Health. She is the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of the Philippines Manila where she also teaches courses in behavioral sciences and public health. She is also the Chairperson of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and the Executive Director of the Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights).
This two-part report explores through a human rights lens the issues affecting urban poor women during the pandemic. Throughout 2021, the author interviewed urban poor women, community leaders, local government officials, and non-government organizations to gather their stories and experiences.
Part 1 looks into the multiple burdens that urban poor women are carrying in adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s response and how both have significantly exacerbated urban poor women’s vulnerability and threatened their well-being.
Part 2 explores the problems, challenges, and coping behaviors adopted by urban poor women to navigate and survive the pandemic and an environment characterized by deprivation, marginalization, and inequality.
Photograph: PhilRights
