Kadamay calls for living wage, protection for informal workers ahead of SONA
MANILA, Philippines — Urban poor group Kadamay (Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap) said they have low expectations that the president will be laying out plans the people need to hear on his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who ran on a vague campaign based on “Unity,” is set to deliver his first SONA on Monday.
In a strongly-worded statement on Saturday, the group laid out a six-point agenda, which they said they hope the government would respond to.
This includes action on issues and in sectors such as labor, social services and the economy, the housing backlog, the climate crisis, human rights and accountability, and asserting national sovereignty on the West Philippine Sea.
Kadamay is also calling for the implementation of a “Family Living Wage” to all workers, as well as the enactment of a law that would protect informal workers such as vendors and drivers.
Meanwhile, they also want a “price freeze” to be imposed as commodity prices continue to soar on top of a moratorium on payments such as rent, electricity, and water.
It is also calling for a review of government projects to ensure that they are not harmful to either the environment and the country’s natural resources or those that displace individuals, such as projects under the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.
Kadamay is also wants the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict) to be abolished, saying that the funds for the agency could have instead been used for other social services.
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