By: Cassandra Cu, Ashley Loyola, Kristin Ong, Trisha Uy, Janina Ng of 11- Goodness
How does conflict theory affect the Philippines? According to Karl Marx, conflict theory is when the society is in a state of permanent conflict due to the competition for limited resources. It is a social order that is maintained by domination and power. Conflict theory states that those with wealth and power try to hold to the authority by suppressing the less fortunate. It is also when individuals maximize their own benefits. Conflict theory is shown in the Philippines by the presence of contractualization and the existence of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
Conflict theory has been long present in the Philippines due to the huge gap between the rich and the poor. This has been mostly prolonged due to the vulnerability of the mass and the greed of the rich. The Philippines have always been a place susceptible to calamities and different difficulties. This has caused the rich to become greedy for the resources in order for them to maintain the lifestyle they are living without thinking of those below them. Despite the alarming possibility of corruption and abuse in our society, this issue has long been ignored. In fact, the rich become richer while the poor become poorer. 17.6 million Filipinos have been living in poverty and the rate has been increasing rapidly. Due to the vulnerable state of these 17.6 million Filipinos, Those who are rich take this chance to further abuse and use them in order to gain more power and wealth in different ways.
Many Filipinos are working to make ends meet and to constantly provide for their families. It is no surprise that people work multiple jobs just so that they can live comfortably. However, in the Philippines, there is a short-term employment practice called Endo contractualization. Endo contractualization, also known as contractualization in short, is when companies hire employees to work for them for only 6 months. The contract strictly follows a 6-month duration because after such duration employees are required to be regarded as regularized workers meaning they get the extra benefits of working for the company such as salary raise, vacation or sick pay, and even job advancements. Due to this accepted practice, the rights of many Filipino workers are being violated as they are just working for this company for just a short period of time and are even given minimum wage for their labor and when the does contract ends, they must find a new job and adapt to the new environment all over again. This ultimately can be seen as a cause of “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” as the rich or company owners are not forced to give the workers, also known as the less fortunate, extra benefits as the contract states.
Gambling is one of the many vices that many people are inclined to. The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) are companies in the Philippines that produce online gambling services for foreigners, specifically Chinese citizens. Filipinos have observed that there are quite a lot of mainland Chinese citizens living here in the Philippines, and this is due to the POGO. How is this related to the theory of conflict? Well, landlords increased their rental fees since they are aware of the money that Chinese POGO employees have. Locals on the other hand, cannot afford the high prices of these units. Citizens have also complained about the Chinese workers being rowdy toward locals. This means that the Chinese are dominating the Philippines and they have more power in society due to their social position, which allows them to have more benefits.
To summarize, the conflict theory is based on the ideas of Karl Marx, a German philosopher who believes that society progressed through several stages, the most significant out of the seven were socialism, capitalism, and feudalism. Although the conflict theory shows us extreme changes that may happen in society, it still doesn’t account for the stability that the society may undergo. This means that society will always be in a state of conflict as there is a never-ending competition for resources. When we compare both, this actually has been present in the Philippines as the gap between the higher class and the lower class still hasn’t been solved. Some examples are endo contractualization, wherein it allows company owners to not give extra benefits such as PH mandatory employee benefits and contributions (SSS, Philhealth, Pag-ibig) to other workers and how some Chinese have been unfair and abusive towards the Filipinos which really shows that “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” In conclusion, we can see how the conflict theory can affect how we see things as it shows the conflicts among different social groups/classes and how it changes our perspective towards society.
Sources: https://www.rappler.com/nation/252472-vico-sotto-shuts-down-illegal-chinese-restaurant-says-no-pogo
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