Our industry is suffering because of too many holidays and too many breaks.

Why is doing business in the Philippines such a difficult thing? I’ll tell you why, it’s because of leaders trying to make sure that the ass’ of the majority of the voting public gets kissed by them through more holidays, increasing too much the daily wage in other parts of country (when it is not necessary) and by labor laws and taxes that do not give the small and medium enterprises a chance to grow first before starting to push them to the wall.

I’m tired of all these holidays. Because of the holidays, I have to pay twice the salary and twice the expense just so we can keep up with the demands of our customers abroad. They don’t have the same holidays as we do, so why should our production for them stop?

I understand that this “strategy” is in line with promoting the local tourism. But, because of that, people start making cash advances or start using their credit cards just so they can go on trips or spend the next few days lounging around, going to malls, etc. This kind of overly prolonged holidays has created a new spending habit for the people. I know, it is their God-given right, in as much as I would want to have the same kind of break, but it is promoting a culture of “laziness” and a culture wherein people are taught to spend more and are given more time for “idleness,” a culture wherein people know that because they have the voting power, they, as a group, can actually manipulate the law-makers into supporting their “capriccios.” Because of this, they would clamor yet for a higher pay. The salary I give to the people is way higher than the minimum wage and so, I am not guilty of giving them less than what they deserve. But, with all this going on, the economy is going down. Businesses are shutting down because they can no longer afford the labor cost and the demands of the people. In fact, have you noticed that before, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble products and other basic necessities were all manufactured here in the Philippines and we were the ones exporting these goods? Now, these products are manufactured in China, India and Indonesia. The very people who demand for higher pay are the very people who are losing their jobs to other countries.

Ironic, isn’t it?