Gig workers in the Philippines “face low pay and dangerous conditions,” according to a report that ranked nine of the most popular digital labor platforms in the country.
, there is no evidence that drivers and riders earn at least the daily minimum wage of P537 per day after work-related costs despite gigging for top digital platforms — namely, Angkas, Borzo , Foodpanda, Grab Car, Grab Express, Joyride, Lalamove, TokTok, and Transportify., assessed these platforms against its five principles of fairness , giving each a fairness score out of 10.
Of the gig economy platforms rated, GrabCar and GrabFood/Express topped the ranking with 3 points out of 10, followed by Angkas and Lalamove with 2 points each. The remaining companies could not provide evidence of the minimum standards of fair work. “When platforms are not scored, it does not necessarily mean they do not provide these particular principles,” said Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano, the principal investigator for Fairwork Philippines and a professor of the department of communications at De La Salle University. “It means that we lack evidence to score… that these platforms are indeed offering these particular services.”
Workers, lured by the opportunities and promises of the platform economy as a viable source of income, take on debt to buy cars and motorcycles — only to default on loans.safeguard [We’ve talked to a few workers whose cars have been towed away, especially since the conditions prevailing in this pandemic offer no safeguards],” said Ms. Soriano. “gig work [They couldn’t make the regular loan payments because gig work isn’t that stable].
Platform workers may seem to be earning well but after fixed capital costs, onboarding costs , and mobile data costs, “they’re actually in an economically precarious situation,” she said.