MBCCI to appeal DOLE circular on filing of wage hike exemption

Members of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry will appeal the memorandum circular of the Department of Labor and Employment in Region 6, asking businessmen affected by super typhoon “Yolanda” to file for six-month exemption from the P10 wage hike.

DOLE officials, led by Director Ponciano Ligutom, should themselves identify the towns and the cities badly affected by the typhoon instead of the businessmen applying for exemption, MBCCI President Frank Carbon said.

He said businessmen, especially in northern Negros Occidental, already incurred losses, and DOLE should not give them a hard time by asking them to apply for exemption.

MBCCI, together with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Iloilo Business Chamber, had filed a petition against the wage increase and sought a six-month moratorium, saying that many businessmen are still recovering from the destruction of super typhoon “Yolanda”.

However, only one firm in Western Visayas has, so far, applied for a six-month exemption from the recently-approved P10 wage increase in the region, DOLE Region 6 records showed.

Ligutom had said earlier that they already published notices in regional newspapers asking businessmen, who were badly affected by super typhoon “Yolanda”, to apply for wage hike exemptions by next week.

After 75 days from the publication of the notice, and businessmen still fail to apply for exemption, they will be compelled to implement the wage hike, he said.

In October last year, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board unanimously approved Wage Order No. RBVI-21, effective Nov. 29, 2013, that set at P287 the daily minimum wage for non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers; P245 for those employing 10 workers and below.

The new order also set wages for plantation workers at P255 a day, and at P245 for non-plantation workers.*APN