The state of the pocket

By Herbert Vego

AROUND this time in 2024, the IBON Foundation revealed its finding that a family of five residing in the city would need to earn at least PHP 26,033 per month to make both ends meet.

Today, the average Filipino family would have to earn PHP 50,000 to PHP 80,000 per month to live comfortably in an urban setting. This is the conservative estimate of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, which is largely made up of call centers.

A salary in that range allows for basic needs plus discretionary spending like savings, leisure, and a better quality of life.  But most Filipinos do not earn that much,

The daily wage in the Philippines varies by region and industry. The current daily rate for non-agriculture workers in Metro Manila, effective July 18, 2025, is PHP 695; or PHP 658 for workers in the agriculture, and service/retail sectors with 15 or fewer employees, as well as in manufacturing with fewer than 10 workers.

Other regions have lower minimum wages, as in Western Visayas with PHP 570 and PHP 533 for workers in the non-agriculture and agriculture sectors, respectively.

The average monthly salary for a government clerk in the Philippines varies by position, ranging from PHP 14,000 to PHP 23,000.

It is said that if the country’s wealth were to be divided equitably, there would be no poor Filipinos.  The bitter truth, however, is that there are indigent families who do not eat three square meals a day.

That explains why so many of our nurses, medical technologists and other professionals go out for greener pastures. In the United States’ hospitals, they earn from US $3,000 to $5,000 per month.

I know a lady from Oton, Iloilo who abandoned her farm to work as a house cleaner in Denmark for a salary of 20,000 kroner per month. Since a krone is around nine pesos, that translates to PHP 180,000.

Within a few months, Melanie came home with a Danish husband.

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ILECO 1 READY TO COMPETE WITH MORE POWER

“WE are ready for competition.”

This was how the technical services department manager of the Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) reacted to its impending competition with a private power distribution company, MORE Electric and Power Corporation.

As a guest of the Aksyon Radyo program “Tribuna sang Banwa” (also live on Facebook) last Sunday, Engr. GC June Garanchon told hosts Nermie Camiña and this writer that the cooperative had prepared for competition with MORE Power.

It’s because the Supreme Court (SC) had denied the motion for reconsideration filed by ILECO I and the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA) questioning the legality of MORE Power’s franchise expansion under Republic Act No. 11918, enacted in July 2022.

The SC decision affirmed the expansion of the franchise of MORE Power from Iloilo City to Passi City and 15 Iloilo municipalities.

Two of them, Pavia and Sta. Barbara, are still serviced solely by ILECO 1.  Right now, however, MORE Power linemen are installing its own poles and power lines there.

While competition could subtract the number of ILECO customers, now numbering around 180,000, Garanchon welcomed it, there being no more legal impediment.

The SC ruling stressed that public utility franchises are not exclusive and that Congress, through its legislative powers, may amend or expand franchises to prioritize the general welfare.

I expressed my view that a healthy competition with MORE Power would incentivize ILECO 1 to improve its services and reduce its rates.

“If I were a customer,” Garanchon agreed, “I would be empowered to choose which of the two would be more advantageous to me.”