An ecumenical labor group has denounced what it called the “large-scale corruption” in government, saying it continues to rob millions of Filipino workers of decent work and social benefits.
In a statement marking the World Day for Decent Work on Monday, the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) warned that rampant corruption involving public funds has “become a hindrance in providing decent work” for many Filipinos.
“Corruption involving trillions of public funds not only leads to ghost and substandard projects but deprives social services for workers of much-needed allocation,” said EILER chairperson Renan Ortiz.
Citing figures from Greenpeace Philippines, EILER said around ₱560 billion in public funds were lost to corruption in 2025 alone.
According to the group’s own computation, the amount “can cover almost 90 percent of the total out-of-pocket health expenses of all Filipinos, amounting to ₱639 billion in 2023.”
Ortiz lamented that despite such losses, “numerous companies maintain inhumane workplaces with impunity as the labor department remains sluggish in conducting labor inspections.”
He noted that only 1,200 labor inspectors are deployed nationwide to monitor more than 1.2 million business establishments — “yielding a ratio of 1 labor inspector assigned to cover 1,000 establishments.”
EILER recalled that as early as 2018, the Department of Labor and Employment had requested a budget to hire 2,000 additional labor inspectors, but the proposal was denied by the Department of Budget and Management. “Until 2024, the target has yet to materialize,” the group said.
Data from the Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment (ISLE) showed 132,710 occupational disease cases and 27,636 work-related injury cases reported in 2021.
Ortiz said public funds lost to corruption could have been used to support struggling workers. “Funds lost to corruption could have been diverted to fund wage subsidies for workers hired in small businesses. Statutory minimum wages in the country are even lower than the poverty threshold set by none other than the government,” he said.
EILER pointed out that the 2023 poverty threshold in Metro Manila stood at ₱15,713, while minimum wage earners received only ₱15,290 a month. In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the poverty threshold was ₱12,884, but the minimum wage was just ₱7,942.
“Massive corruption in government with the connivance of big businesses will only result in further subjecting Filipino workers to inhumane working and living conditions,” Ortiz said. “The government of Marcos, Jr. must swiftly comply with the clamor of Filipinos to punish corrupt officials and their cohorts as well as judiciously allocate public funds to finance social protection, wage subsidies, free healthcare, and promotion of labor rights.”
