METRO Manila’s morning rush used to be measured by traffic and coffee lines. Lately, it’s measured by sweat. As temperatures climb and humidity stays oppressive, workers like construction crews, delivery riders, office staff and market vendors are finding shifts physically harder, less productive and possibly dangerously unsafe. National climate and health agencies have recorded worrying heat-related illness and death. Global analyses signal that these pressures will only intensify unless urgent action is taken.
Between the first four months of 2024, the Department of Health recorded dozens of heat-related illnesses and several deaths. In 2023, the country registered hundreds of cases. Local heat-index readings show Metro Manila reaching the “danger” range, roughly 42 degrees Celsius to 51 C, where even short exposures can overwhelm the body’s cooling systems. International projections underline the scale of the threat: the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that, under a 1.5 C pathway, heat stress could reduce total working hours worldwide by about 2.2 percent in 2030, roughly equivalent to 80 million full‑time jobs. That figure rises to about 3.8 percent (around 136 million full‑time jobs) for work done in direct sunlight.
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