Workers in Central Visayas get P20 daily wage hike

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 decided Wednesday to increase the minimum wage in Central Visayas by P20 after a deliberation that stretched more than five hours.

This brings the minimum wages in the region to a range of P240 to P305 a day, depending on where the companies are based and their line of business. For Metro Cebu workers, the current rate is P285.

Director Exequiel Sarcauga of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7 said the P20 increase applies to all minimum wage earners and reminded employers to correct any wage distortions.

“The increase does not cover those receiving above the minimum wage. But it is now the responsibility of all employers concerned to correct any wage distortion,” Sarcauga said in a press conference.

Those who voted for the P20 increase were management representatives lawyer Hidelito Pascual and businessman Charles Streegan, and the two government representatives, namely, Director Efren Carreon of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7 and Director Asteria Caberte of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7.

Labor sector representatives, lawyer Ernesto Carreon of the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and Marianito Ventura of the Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services (Tupas), abstained from the voting.

Sarcauga, as chairman of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), only votes if there is a tie.

Atty. Ernesto Carreon said he and Ventura pushed for a higher amount, starting at P100. They later brought this down to P50, then P25, but the approved amount was even lower.

He said in September 2010, the RTWPB in the region increased the minimum wage by P18, raising the minimum daily wage from P276 to P285 in Metro Cebu, when the purchasing power of peso was still higher than at present.

At that time, gasoline was still P45 per liter, or about P5 cheaper than current prices.

The last wage order took effect exactly a year ago today.

However, the wage board exempted export companies from the increase until February 12, 2011, because the recession in the United States and weak demand from other countries hit the sector badly.

Streegan believes he and Pascual may be lambasted by the business sector for supporting the P20 increase because while the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is very competitive, exporters and other sectors still suffer from weak demand abroad, among other factors.

Among the facts considered in the decision was that an estimated 30.2 percent of the population is poor.

Director Carreon, on the other hand, believes their decision to increase the floor wage by P20 is the best they can do at present.

“We know this will not solve poverty but this will be supplemented by the efforts of other government agencies and all sectors of society,” Carreon said.

Caberte said they also considered the importance of saving jobs, when they discussed the increase.

“This is the reason why we looked at a lot of macro-indicators. We looked at the poverty threshold. We found out that Region 7 has high poverty incidence, but is also high in employment rate,” Caberte said.

Sarcauga said they will submit the new wage order to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for approval.

He hopes the new wage order will be published in the newspapers within one week, so the new wage rate can be implemented before the end of September. — PNA