Mis. Occ. business groups propose a Php5 increase in daily wage of workers

OZAMIZ CITY, Misamis Occidental, June 28 (PIA) – A daily wage increase of Php5 has been proposed by the different business groups in Misamis Occidental.

This proposal is contained in a joint position paper submitted to the Regional Tripartite Wages & Productivity Board (RTWPB), region 10, during a recent public hearing held in Cagayan de Oro City.

The activity was done to listen to both labor and management groups in Northern Mindanao on the petition of the Allied Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) for an across the board daily wage increase of Php79.66, in the region.

“There is no question about increasing the daily wages of our laborers because of the intervening conditions that the country is facing today. The only problem is how much would such increase be,” said Atty. Alan M. Macaraya, Director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), region 10, who is also the Chairperson of RTWPB-10.

In their position paper, the business groups of the province said they cannot afford to give in to the petition of ALU-TUCP because it will defeat the purpose of inviting investors to invest in the province and provide work to unemployed Misamisnons.

Misamis Occidental is predominantly an agri-based province, which is largely dependent on weather conditions and prices of agricultural products are often dictated by outside economic players.

As such, more than 85% of the population’s income is derived from agriculture and that 80% of it is derived from the sale of copra and rice/palay.

The price of copra is often dictated by the price of oil in the world market while the price of rice/palay is often affected by the entry of smuggled rice from various neighboring countries.

The business groups also pointed out that the inventory of standing coconut trees has tremendously decreased due to its continuous cutting for lumber as alternative wood supply and a means for immediate income generation.

Because of poverty and lack of income opportunities in the province coupled with senous desperations on the unfavorable price of copra in the past, many of the coconut farmers resorted to the cutting of coconut trees as a means to obtain immediate money to bridge their economic needs.

They also said that in reality, Mis. Occ. is not a tourist attraction because of the limited tourist facilities it can offer.

“Although we have air trips to and from Cebu and Manila, as well, as marine vessels going to and from the different islands, Mis. Occ. does not have the potential to invite numerous guests and tourists to come to its places because they have only the Misamis Occidental Aquamarine Park as a major tourist destination,” it said.

The other reasons cited by the groups for their inability to grant the Php79.66 daily wage increase include the following:Only retail stores are predominant businesses in the province. Big stores are controlled by businessmen from outside Mis. Occ. that resulted to a loss in competitiveness of local entrepreneurs. Prices of gasoline and crude oil are not stable, thus, resulting to an increase in the costs of operation. Also, business taxes are continuously increasing every year.

As computed by the groups, the daily wage increase of P79.66 will result in the increase of Php2,452.96 per month or Php29,435.56 per year in employer cost for every employee.

“With this proposed salary adjustment, businesses could not imagine how to increase selling prices of goods and services sold to cover up the annual increase in operating expense by almost Php30,000 per employee, per year.

Signatories of the position paper include the presidents of the Ozamiz City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc., Misamis Occidental Chamber, Ozamiz Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Elvira D. Tan, PCCI Regional Governor, Northern Mindanao. (PIA-10)