Philippine Agenda: Jobs

A college diploma is seen as a ticket to a better life but each day, thousands of graduates flock to business districts hoping to land good-paying jobs, only to come home disappointed. More than three million Filipinos remain jobless. With employment opportunities looking bleak, millions of Filipinos work abroad to secure a better future for their families. Sol, a former factory-worker in Manila, left for Hong Kong to become a domestic helper. Vicky Morales meets Sol and finds that even there, good fortune has not smiled on her. The Philippine Agenda team also meets a group of Filipino woman workers abused by their employers. As the May 14 elections draw near, overseas Filipino workers gather at a Hong Kong plaza to cry for justice and seek protection from the government. Even on foreign soil, Filipinos search for security in the workplace. Back in the Philippines, it’s almost painfully the same old story: Workers protest for higher wages and better employment benefits as they have done for many years. But there is one place in Metro Manila where employees have taken their cause to a new level. In front of a bus company in Novaliches stands what is called the "longest picket line", which striking workers maintained for more than twelve years. Francisco Salvo, one of the striking workers, tells the story of their long drawn-out battle with management. In between fighting for his cause in the picket line, Francisco scurries to different call center companies, hoping to become an agent. But will fate favor the long-embattled Francisco? Or will he once again, find himself in a seemingly endless struggle for fair and honorable work? Vicky Morales tells these stories on Philippine Agenda: Trabaho (Jobs), which airs this Sunday, April 22, at 7 p.m.