THE labor group Partido Manggagawa expressed opposition to the proposed plan to declare as non-working holiday the pageant day for Miss Universe on Jan. 30.
“We hope President Duterte does not change his mind. A non-working holiday translates to foregone income for millions of wage earners who are paid daily. For workers, an honest day’s work is more productive than watching a grand, commercialized show of women’s bodies,” PM secretary general Judy Ann Miranda said.
The labor group said there were 12-million wage and salary workers in the private sector as of 2016 and the vast majority of them were paid on a daily basis and would thus suffer lost wages for a non-working holiday.
“Besides daily paid workers, also negatively affected by a non-working holiday are poor Filipinos needing vital social services such as sick mothers and children seeking help in health centers, and unemployed…” Miranda said.
She added “Beyond all that, the Miss Universe contest glorifies a version of femininity anchored on physical beauty. A woman is not reducible to her vital statistics.”
