Kalusugan sa Kabuhayang Walang Katiyakan: The Influence of Working Conditions on the Physical Well-Being and Healthcare Access of Online Food Delivery Riders in Metro Manila

Abstract

As the center of political and economic life in the Philippines, Metro Manila has long been the main target for transportation and communications infrastructure development, attracting business infrastructures to agglomerate in the region. This had promoted the creation of various employment opportunities, including informal types of labor. With online food delivery work as one of the most prominent forms of informal work today, a phenomenological research design was employed in this qualitative study to achieve a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon of working informally as an online food delivery rider to unravel the impacts of their working conditions on their physical well-being and healthcare access. This was achieved by hearing out the lived experiences of Foodpanda riders in Metro Manila. A total of 8 one-on-one, online interviews were conducted to gather data which were also subjected to thematic analysis afterwards. Findings show that workers primarily go to online food delivery work because of the promises of flexibility, autonomy, and accessibility. Because of these freedoms, workers were enticed to stay in this work despite the low and fluctuating pay. Online food delivery riders are forcibly classified by platform companies as freelancers which deny them health and financial protections. Their working conditions are further characterized by job insecurity, predatory labor practices, poor road conditions, and a weak bargaining power. With all these, the workers’ healthcare access greatly diminished which positioned them at high-risk of developing respiratory problems, musculoskeletal disorders, and heat-related illnesses, among others. Drawing from the findings, the study ultimately recommends a tripartite social dialogue between government bodies, platform companies, and the workers to create policies that specifically address the concerns and promote the welfare of the workers. Future studies are encouraged to explore the experiences of female Foodpanda riders for any similarities and differences with that of male Foodpanda riders. The present study could also be replicated to explore the working conditions of Foodpanda riders in other areas of the country, ideally in cities where local ordinances that concern online delivery riders are put in place.