The country’s largest labor group is now demanding a P136 pay hike for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila to help them cope with the rising prices of basic services and commodities.
The Trade Union Congress of Philippines (TUCP) finally submitted the wage petition yesterday before the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) during its scheduled stakeholder consultation.
It said the P136 “living wage” aims to restore the loss purchasing power of minimum wage earners, which have been “eroded” by several economic factors in NCR.
“The real value of the current P466 minimum wage is P299 only,” TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.
“It cannot sustain the needs of a family. As a result, many employed workers fall through the cracks and join the growing ranks of the working poor,” he added.
The proposed living wage comes from TUCP’s computation on the wage impact of the increase of the consumer price index, expected increase in the charges of basic utilities this year and, government -mandated deductions.
It also includes the “equity supplement” or the supposed just share of workers in the country’s economic growth for last 25 years.
TUCP said it is confident companies will be able to afford the wage hike, especially after the country has repeatedly reported significant economic growth since 2010.
“Workers cannot be denied of an increase now… We only ask for what is due our workers. What we ask is a modest share from the gains of the booming economy,” TUCP said in its position paper.
It also assured the pay increase will not lead to mass retrenchment as claimed by some employers since labor cost only account to 15 percent of their operation costs.
“We reject any attempt linking employment growth to minimum wage increase,” TUCP said.
“It is the high cost of electricity which makes up about 30 to 45% of the cost of doing business. It is the lack of power supply and the high price of power that drives away investors,” it added.
If approved by the regional wage board, the wage petition will increase the existing minimum wage in NCR from P466 to P602.
BILL LIMITS HOLIDAYS
Good news for the business sector, but bad news for the tourism sector and many Filipinos.
A bill seeking to regulate the proclamation of all holidays in the country and to require all public and private banks to operate even on weekends and official holidays has been filed at the House of Representatives.
Deputy Speaker and Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol filed House Bill 5334 calling for the regulation of “holiday economics”, lamenting that proclamation of days-long holidays is “damaging to businesses” and affects the nation’s productivity.
“To avoid damage to our economy, this bill proposed that holidays, particularly non-woking holidays, should be properly regulated not allowing holidays to last more than two days,” he said.
HB 5334 tasks the Office of the President to regulate the dates and number of days of all the holidays.
“Holidays in the Philippines are greatly enjoyed by many Filipino people as they get to spend more time with their families and take a break from their respective jobs. Although it is only right to be able to rest in the middle of a chaotic schedule, longer holidays usually result to a ton of pending workload hindering the productivity of various offices in our country,” Apostol said.
Quoting Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, he said small businesses usually suffer during the holidays as most of them are incapable of bearing the costs of a higher-wage bill during holidays. “While daily paid workers don’t earn on these days, consequently affecting the progress and competitiveness of our economy,” he said.
An opposition lawmaker is cautioning President Aquino against further putting to test the peoples’ tolerance of government-imposed economic difficulties by vetoing the popular bill raising the tax exemption camp for the 13th month pay and other bonuses.
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio issued the warning as he called on Aquino not to heed the recommendation of the Department of Finance (DOF) to reject the bill that was passed by Congress as an urgent measure.
Tinio is among the principal authors of the bill that was sent to Malacañang on January 14.
Tinio warned that Aquino will be facing the people’s extreme anger against his administration if the measure is rejected.
The bill has reportedly been sent by Aquino to the legal department of Malacañang “for further study.”
Tinio said the DOF has aired its opposition to the measure and has been repeatedly asking Aquino to reject it.
The DOF wants to reduce the tax exemption ceiling to P55,000 through an administrative order. Congress has proposed to set the exemption ceiling to P82,000.
“All working people want some relief from unconscionably high personal income taxes. They are eagerly awaiting enactment of this bill into law as soon as possible. A Presidential veto will deny the majority of Filipinos, who are mostly low- and middle-income earners, the higher take-home pay that they so justly deserve and need,” stated Tinio.
He said Aquino’s veto of the measure will confirm accusations that he was lying through his teeth when he declared in his first state of the nation that the Filipino people are his bosses. - by Samuel Medenilla (With reports from Charissa M. Luci and Ben R. Rosario) Manila Bulletin
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