Wage boards to review minimum salary increase
METRO MANILA — The Labor
Department has ordered its wage boards
to speed up the review to increase the salary of minimum wage workers in
several regions amid rising prices of goods.
Labor
Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad III said
last may 28 that Central Luzon, Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Davao Region
are already up for a minimum wage increase as its last raise happened over a
year ago.
"May
regional boards na lagpas na sa isang taon ang kanilang current wage orders. So
wala nang sasagabal sa kanila na magtaas ng sahod. Decision ng board ay iba-iba
ang timing. (Ang) regions na mas mataas ang inflation at mas hinog na, malamang
magtataas ng wage," he said in a media briefing.
National
Wages and Productivity Commission Executive Director Maria Criselda Sy said
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has ordered the wage boards of Regions 3,
6, 7, 8, 9, and 11 to confirm if there is a sustained "extraordinary"
increase in prices of basic commodities within the last six months.
President
Rodrigo Duterte has also ordered the regional boards to look into a possible
wage increase.
"Sila
ang binigyan ni Secretary ng instruction na pabilisin na ang pag-conduct ng
consulation at public hearing. At i-consider na lahat ng nangyayari ngayon so
that they can immediately issue the wage order," Sy said in a media
briefing.
She
added: "Kung sustained ang pagtaas ng prices of commodities, within six months
ay sunod-sunod, pwedeng pag-aralan ng board at i-recommend sa commission. Ang
commission ang magco-confirm."
The
National Wages and Productivity Commission is the body under the Labor
Department that sets minimum wages per region and grants increases upon its
boards' assessment and recommendation.
Sy
added that Metro Manila is also up for assessment even if the minimum wage in
the region was increased in October 2017.
The
wage commission said once the regional boards issue their recommendations and they
are confirmed by the commission, it will take 30 days for an increase order to
be issued.
The
National Wages and Productivity Commission and representatives from the
Departments of Trade, Energy, Finance, Agriculture, transportation board, and
Central Bank will convene on June 5 to discuss the possible hike in minimum
wage.
The
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has reported inflation moved at a faster
pace at 4.5 percent in April from 4.3 percent in March — both breaching the
Bangko Sentral's target of two percent and four percent for the year.
Prices
of goods and services reached a three-year high last February at 3.9 percent and has since continued the trend. Prices of
most commodities spiked after the tax reform law kicked in beginning January 1.
The PSA
pointed to higher prices in the following commodity groups: alcoholic beverages
and tobacco, clothing and footwear, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other
fuels, furnishing, household equipment and routine house maintenance, health,
transport, recreation and culture, restaurant, and miscellaneous goods and
services.
Finance
Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua earlier said the tax reform law is not the
cause of higher prices of basic goods, as it contributed less than half a
percent to the country's inflation rate in April.
He
added other factors are behind the spike in commodity prices, such as the
depreciation of peso, the rise in fuel prices, and profiteering.
Meanwhile,
a militant bloc at the House of Representives filed last May 28 a bill seeking
to increase the nation-wide minimum wage to P750.
Anakpawis
Representative Ariel Casilao said the Makabayan bloc filed a bill to increase
the minimum wage to P750, because based on the Family Living Wage, a Filipino
family of six needs P1,160 per day to live.
He said
the bill also aims to abolish the regional wage boards.
Bello
said DOLE will study the proposed 750-peso wage hike.
"Pwede
naman pag-aralan 'yan then after studying, we will make our recommendation to
Congress," he said. (CNN Philippines Staff/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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