The garlic peelers of Manila: under the skin of the Philippines’ informal economy

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

- It’s a key ingredient in Filipino cuisine, but the large chains and companies that use it benefit from underpaid workers with little to no legal protection

- A proposed new bill looks to establish formal rights for those in the shadow economy, but it’s still a long road to a fair wage

 

Even when she’s not at work, the scent of garlic lingers on Marites Arendain’s calloused palms – her “garlic hands” are the legacy of years spent peeling bucket after bucket of the pungent vegetable.

 

She earns 80 pesos (US$1.60) for the 15kg sack of garlic she peels each day, a tiny fraction of the minimum wage of 537 pesos (US$10.70) in Manila – just enough to buy her family of eight a kilogram of rice and some dried fish.

 

“Peeling garlic the whole day burns my hands, especially when it is fresh or thick,” Arendain said.

 

There is a robust demand for garlic, a key ingredient in Filipino cuisine, from small restaurants and large fast-food chains in the 

Philippine capital. Baseco, a poor community near the city’s port, is where a lot of that garlic is peeled before it ends up in boxed meals, tinned goods, or the fancy dishes of luxury hotels.

 

Full story: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3146491/garlic-peelers-manila-under-skin-philippines-informal-economy

 

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