1. How do we explain the low wages in the Philippines? Why is the wage of a worker in the Philippines different from that in other countries for the same work or product being made (vehicles, piers, electronics and the like)?
JMS: Two considerations of the capitalist in the Philippines or in any other another country in determining the wage for the worker: a) It is enough for the subsistence of the worker, and b) it must keep it down to be able to extract more surplus value.
2. Why is contractualization considered “attack on wages”? How do the various types of contractualization ( daily rate, piece rate, pakyawan, seasonal, per project and others) attack the wages of workers. What does the capitalist profit from this?
JMS: In the absence of job tenure and full rights of the workers, the capitalist can extract more surplus value from the workers under threat of being removed from work easily and the general wage level can be lowered because of the lack of job tenure and full rights of workers. No job security, no social benefits. This is how endo or contractualization works, whether daily rate, piece rate, pakyawan, seasonal, per project and the like.
3. It is said that there are 2 methods for capitalists to generate surplus value or surplus profit: 1) absolute surplus value or extension of labor time and; 2) relative surplus value or the increase of productivity using modern technology. In the context of the Philippines, which brings more value?
JMS: A measure of the full value of a commodity is the average labor time applied by workers. The absolute value calculated in the 19th century due to excessive working hours, reached 12 to 18 hours in the first half of the century and decreased to 10 hours in the late years of the 19th century. In the 20th century it was eight hours. But with the shortening of the labor time, there is a speed up through the machine and conveyor belt that increases the excess amount or surplus that is taken from the worker. That is called the relative value which is possible and even higher than the former absolute value.
4. In a semicolonial and semifeudal society where the comprador bourgeoisie predominates, unlike in advanced countries where the industrial bourgeoisie predominates, how is surplus value determined or acquired? How is the price of commodities or products determined? How is the wages of workers determined here? Is it the same in advanced capitalist countries? If not, what is the difference?
JMS: What is called capital is the equipment, raw materials and the factory plant. They are the result of former labor power, so capital is called dead labor. Whether or not any part of capital is imported, no new value is created by it, It is living labor or renewed labor power that creates value in new commodities.
5. What is the exact application of “Wage, Price, Profit” and “Wage Labor and Capital” during the pandemic where many companies, factories and establishments have closed around the world and here in the Philippines, and this’ y resulted in the collapse of the economy and led to the bankruptcy of businesses, and eventually mass layoffs of workers from their employed jobs?
JMS: In the law of the bourgeoisie, the pandemic is a fortuitous event, in their logic the bourgeoisie is not responsible for the occurrence and it doesn’t matter that they are no longer responsible for the previous employment contract and wages. They will simply say, the workers did not work and we have no income, we will not pay wages to those who did not work, But the capitalist is still ahead of getting a bailout from the government and the bourgeois government can easily say that the funds for unemployment relief.
6. In the service sector is found the largest number of Filipino workers as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. How is surplus value obtained in the following that includes service workers that are characteristic of the country:
- call center agents/BPOs
- sales lady/sales man in department stores
- bank tellers
JMS: In the industrial capitalist system, no worker even in the service sector can say that he produced the entire commodity or service because it is made by many workers, It is necessary to add up all the labor time and value of their product or service to know the average necessary labor time spent on each unit of product.
7. Widespread unemployment, with or without a pandemic, is inherent in the Philippines and is considered a crisis. How does the unemployment crisis and the squeezing of excess value from workers affect wages?
JMS: If unemployment is high, capitalism has a greater opportunity to lower wages because it is easy for capitalists to pick up unemployed people who can easily accept lower wages. It is called the unemployed reserve army of labor or surplus population that is consumed by cheap labor. If wages are low, the surplus value is greater than the profit.
8. As a result of the pandemic, capitalists have taken many health measures to adapt to it and one of them is digital transactions (online banking, beep cards, cashless payment and others). How are workers oppressed under digital transactions and how does the flow and accumulation of capital accelerate from it? What is the proper way to deal with digital transactions?
JMS: The main problem is that the workers have no income and no aid. If so, they have little or no money to go through digital transactions. Digital transactions are another type of wall that the cashless can’t talk to, a barrier between capitalists and government officials.
9. Are we seeing the advancement of the Philippines from the traditional product exchange using physical money to a credit system as a result of digital transactions? Has the financialization of capital in the country been developed because of this?
JMS: This is not financialization as in the US where it is assumed that even though manufacturing disappears, be transferred to China and other cheap labor countries, they will earn from financial transactions (loans) and big item transactions from the military-industrial complex. The pandemic is being blamed for doing digital transactions and preventing the spread of the pandemic. Digital operations constitute technical advance but not economic and financial advance. It is not because you have a computer that you can raise the level in economics and finance.
10. Do the Trotskyists, around the world and in the Philippines, have an equivalent study, counterpoint or debunk, regarding Karl Marx’s “Wages, Prices, Profits” and “Wage Labor and Capital”? What is it and its fundamental differences from the teachings of Karl Marx?
JMS: Trotsky himself was theoretically weak in the fields of philosophy, political economy and social science. Their talent is being an orator or writer against the obvious enemy such as Tsars, capitalists and landlords. He is confused about the most important issues of what to do at the strategic level to win the proletariat and build socialism.
Like Trotsky, the Trotskyists were good at criticizing imperialism and capitalists. Some of them have a deep knowledge of criticism of imperialism and capitalism. But they are confused by being anti-Marxist and anti-Leninist when discussing socialist construction and what are the stages and steps to be taken.
