SA TABI LANG PO
Ni Renaliza Rogers Guhit ni Dennis Sun
CEBU
Ang una kong napuntahan dahil sa trabaho ay ang Cebu. Mula pa noon gustong-gusto ko na talagang mapadpad sa Cebu. Sabi ko pagiipunan ko ang pamasahe sa bus at pang hotel at pocketmoney para maisakatuparan ang "dream" na ito. Masyado kasi akong naghangad makapunta ng Cebu dahil hindi ako pinayagan ng aking ina na mag field trip sa Cebu noong college kaya ganoon na lang ang aking pagka inggit matapos makabalik ang aking mga kaklaseng sumama sa field trip. Kesyo pumunta sila dito, pumunta sila doon, nag clubbing pa at ang saya-saya! Sa buong klase ay ako lang ang hindi maka relate dahil hindi nakasama. Kaya sinabi ko sa sarili ko na mapupuntahan din kita Cebu at maiinggit silang lahat!
nakakita sa akin doon at nakaalam na nandoon ako, pwera na lang ng mga pinost ko sa Facebook na kaunting litrato. Mga 7:30 a.m. ng umaga ay nandoon na ako sa Cebu dahil dalawa lang ang flight from Bacolod to Cebu kaya't no choice ako kundi maghintay ng anim na oras hanggang sa dumating ang boss ko at 1:30 p.m. galing Manila. Nang nalaman ng isa kong kaibigan na 7:30 a.m. pa lang ay nandoon na ako sa Cebu, ang sinabi agad niya ay, "wow ha, hindi ka naman masyadong excited noh?"
Hindi ko alam kung ano ang aking gagawin sa 6 hours na paghihintay. Di din naman ako makaalis ng airport dahil takot din akong mawala. Ang una kong naisip ay kumain. At syempre dahil nasa Ngunit mag-isa akong dumating sa Cebu at wala isang "paliparang pandaigdig" ako, ni isang kaklase ko ang
temporary relief? The reason why I come to question the strategy today is the continued growth of “Black Kigyo” companies which made its debut 2~3 years ago. The practice in which “Black Kigyo” are exploiting employees, not only the young workers but also old workers alike, by imposing very heavy workloads, long working hours with low pay and unpaid overtime is becoming a severe social issue. It seems like the Third Arrow is not yet able to extend its reach to the core demographics of the workforce which applies to part time positions. Well-known
manong guard doon daw sa dulo may masarap na restaurant. So, naglakad ako ng naglakad hila-hila ang aking maliit na stroller. Hangga't sa nakarating ako sa sinabi niyang "masarap na restaurant" na sa totoo pala ay isang canteen/ carinderia sa basement parking lot tapat ng airport. Nakakainis dahil 2 putahe lang mayroon sila ng umagang yun at hindi ko pa kursonada pero nandoon na ako kaya't pinagtiyagaan ko na lang kahit hindi masarap. Matapos kumain bumalik nanaman ako sa airport naghanap
matatandang mag-asawa na hinahatid ang kanilang breadwinner na anak dahil babalik nanaman sa ibang bansa. Nalulungkot ako makita mga batang naluluha dahil aalis nanaman ang magulang para magtrabaho abroad. Nalulungkot ako dahil alam na alam ko ang pakiramdam na aalis nanaman si mama o si papa at iiwan nanaman ako. Buti nga sila napapaluha lang, pero ako noon
companies branded as Black Kigyo were mostly in the service related industries like restaurants but now it doesn’t seem to be the case. Although there are some clear definitions of the term, any company now that treats its workers unfairly seem to be called a black company. In fact, since 2012, there has been a yearly “Black Kigyo Award” formed by a group of lawyers and scholars publish rankings and nominate real companies based on inhuman and abusive treatments of their employees, with the expectation that by making public the company names, it would lead to improvement of working environment and employee treatment. In 2013, when the Labor Ministry surveyed more than 5,000 companies nationwide suspected of “black” labor practices, it found that more than 80% of the total were in one way or another violating labor
nagpapa gulunggulong pa sa sahig sa bahay tuwing makikita kong aalis nanaman sila. Sa dami ng malulungkot na eksenang nasaksihan ko sa departure area ay minabuti ko nang umalis at
maghanap ng wifi bago pa ako ma- carriedaway. Ngunit ang tanging lugar na may wifi sa
airport ay ang mamahaling cafe. So umorder na lang ako
laws and about 40% were imposing excessively illegal overtime work. It used to be that black labor practices applied to hourly part-time workers but even students were not spared, giving birth to the term “black baito”. I think “Black Kigyo” is not a new thing at all. It is just a new form or expression of employee harassment. In my days as a young sarariman, the only word we knew was “ijime” or bullying. But in those days, lifetime employment was the norm so that bullying or harassment was not considered abusive exploitation, it was more of a “carrot and stick” approach to make us work harder. However with the demise of a lifetime guarantee of
It’s already autumn! もう秋ですね。 Mo, aki desu ne. Having four seasons is the nice part about living in Japan. Japanese people like to enjoy the changing of seasons.
ng pinaka murang item sa menu which is yung Lipton tea kapalit ng isang oras ng wifi. Noong naubos ang aking time, doon na lang ako pumwes- to sa gilid at nag games. Makalipas ang anim na oras na paghihintay, sa wakas ay dumating na rin ang aking hinihintay. Gutom din daw siya at ayaw niya ng mahal kaya't nag hanap na lang talaga kami at naghanap ng Jollibee. Sa paglilibot namin sa Cebu, doon ko napagtanto na kahit saan ka pala magpunta sa Pilipinas, halos pareho din ang makikita mo at napagtanto ko din na kahit pinaghihiwa-hiwalay ng dagat ang mga isla natin, pareho pa rin ang estilo ng pamumuhay. May kaunting mga pagkakaiba lang tulad ng itsura ng traysikel na sa Cebu ay mukhang camel. All in all, nakakatuwang mangibang bayan or mangibang isla to be exact. At least ngayon masasabi ko nang narating ko na ang kapitbahay naming isla ng Cebu. Kahit parang laging galit man pag nagsalita ang mga tao dito, no hard feelings pa rin ako sa kanila dahil sobrang sarap ng kanilang lechon de Cebu na pag kinain mo ay magtutunog malambing ang lahat pag nagsalita. Babalik din ako sa Cebu pero sa susunod sisiguraduhin ko nang timing ang oras ko ng pagdating dahil hindi ko na kayang umorder ulit ng mamahaling chaa para lang aliwin ang sarili ko sa airport.
work hard and reward concept, the “carrot” disappeared and only the “stick” remained. There are many intertwined reasons why black companies continue to thrive. One probable reason is the general lack of knowledge of labor laws of which part-time workers and students become easy target. The other is the fear of losing one’s job and the added difficulty of finding a new one. The government tried to implement measures by publicly naming companies suspected of abusive practices, but without punitive measures, black companies will continue to play within the gray zone where they can take advantage of employees. At one point, I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel after years and years of dark economic recession. Maybe we only got used to seeing on the dark that the light we saw was just a lighter shade of black. Autumn is coming soon so instead of thinking about the black kigyo, I am more looking forward to see the colorful foliage this year. Happy Autumn to all!
NIHONGO DE!
3
September-October 2015 Vol. 13, No. 5
ver since I wrote about Abenomics and held high expectations from it, I noticed that it is not talked about anymore as if it has faded so suddenly. Is it because it has succeeded what it promised to deliver, or everybody moved on and there are more topics of interest like the more controversial security regulation? Is the economy in general really improving for good or the so-called Third Arrow of accelerating the growth strategy offered only
Lumabas ako ng airport upang maghanap ng makakainan. Naghanap ako ng Jollibee pero walang malapit. Sabi ni
ng matatambayan sa international departure area kung saan hindi maraming tao. Nakita ko ang mga mag asawang foreigner at mga Pinay at mga anak nilang half-half na ang ku-cute. Naaliw ako sa mga
“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
indi ako pala travel. Bilang isang "probinsyana", ang tanging napuntahan ko lang sa Pilipinas ay Manila at Iloilo. Pero recently, dahil sa trabaho, I found myself constantly sitting inside a plane. At bilang isang nilalang na laging nahihilo, badtrip ang ganitong lifestyle sa akin. Sa dami ng pagbabyahe ko recently pwede na akong maging endorser ng Bonamine.
natural sobrang mahal ang pagkain. Ang problema, ay gusto kong magtipid kaya't I went off to an adventure!