De Guzman slams Imee Marcos video ridiculing people who work 18 hours each day

Presidential candidate and labor leader Leody de Guzman on Saturday condemned a video mocking individuals who work 18 hours a day.

In the video, which was posted by Senator Imee Marcos on her Facebook page, the lawmaker played as herself in a skit, where she discussed with her aides a certain "LenLen" who fainted after working for 18 hours a day.

“Alam niyo, time management 'yan e! Ang pagtatrabaho ay parang pag-inom ng kape... ‘Pag nagtimpla ka, dapat tantsa mo: Kaya ko ba ‘tong ubusin sa ganitong oras?" Marcos said.

(That's time management! Working is like drinking coffee... When making coffee, you must estimate whether you will be able to consume it at a given time.)

At the end of the video, it delivered a message: "Anyone who claims to work 18 hours a day is either lying or stupid."

"Sinabi ni Imee na 'lying' or 'stupid' daw yun nagsasabing nagtatrabaho sila ng 18 oras kada araw. Malamang nasabi niya ito dahil hindi niya naranasan ang pagiging manggagawa. Hindi rin siya nakalinga ng karaniwang ina na may double burden ng gawaing bahay bukod sa pagtatrabaho," De Guzman said in response to the video.

(Imee said those claiming that they work 18 hours a day are either 'lying' or 'stupid.' She most likely claimed this because she had never worked before. She was also not cared for by a typical mother who had a double burden of household responsibilities in addition to her job.)

Due to low wages, many Filipino workers are taking side jobs to cover their needs, he said.

De Guzman then pushed for labor law reform, particularly with regards to regular work hours.

"Ang kompanya na may 24 hours operation at pinatatakbo ng tatlong eight-hour shifts ay maaaring paandarin ng apat na six-hour shifts, nang walang kabawasan sa sweldo," he said.

(A company that operates 24 hours a day and has three eight-hour shifts can decrease to four six-hour shifts without reducing pay.)

"Sa pag-unlad ng teknolohiya, dapat nadadagdagan ang oras na kontrolado ng tao ang kanyang buhay. Hindi tayo karugtong ng makina o mga simpleng kasangkapan sa operasyon ng kompanya," De Guzman said.

(The amount of time a person spends taking control of his or her life should increase as technology advances. We are not an add-on to a machine or a set of simple tools for a company's operations.)

GMA News Online has reached out to Marcos for comment, but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time. — VBL, GMA News