PHILIPPINE STAR/WALTER BOLLOZOS

A PHILIPPINE-BASED human rights organization on Thursday said Filipinos struggle to attain basic human rights due to low wages, inaccessible healthcare, lack of proper education, high housing prices, and rising utility costs in the country.

“Filipinos constantly need to leap over multiple obstacles stacked against each other just to survive. However, in the first place, we are already entitled to the rights we are struggling to attain,” Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights) Executive Director Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan said in a virtual briefing.

She added that most of the available jobs in the Philippines are in low-paying and insecure sectors such as domestic work or wholesale and retail trades.

“Informal workers have to endure long working hours to receive a small amount without any access to government-mandated benefits,” Ms. Pimentel-Simbulan said.

She added that neglecting health remains common among the urban poor due to high healthcare and hospital expenses.

“With limited means and a lack of accessible healthcare services, they prioritize other basic needs that will ensure their and their families’ daily survival,” she said.

Ms. Pimentel-Simbulan added that Filipinos continue to face the lack of proper education due to the neglect of adequate budget allocation for education.

“The belief that education is the only path out of poverty is deeply embedded in the minds of many people,” she said.

Housing prices remain a luxury rather than a right in the country, according to Ms. Pimentel-Simbulan.

She added that informal settlers continue to face constant threats of demolition without the government providing prior relocation or aid.

She said that rising utility costs also worsen living conditions for the urban poor.

“The price of electricity in the country remains one of the highest in Asia, mainly due to a highly privatized and deregulated energy production and distribution, as well as insufficient state subsidies and efforts to enhance energy sufficiency,” The PhilRights official added. — Adrian H. Halili