WHILE there is still no opposition on the proposed daily minimum wage increase in Western Visayas, the local labor sector has recognized the need to include a provision exempting from the possible hike workers at Boracay Island in Aklan, which is up for closure starting April 26.
Wennie Sancho, labor representative to Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas, said the first public hearing for the proposed wage increase in the region held at Aklan State University in Kalibo on Tuesday, April 24, was centered on the impact of the island's closure to local employment.
Sancho, also the secretary general of General Alliance of Workers Association (Gawa), said they are looking at the possibility for workers to file a petition exempting Boracay from the looming implementation of the wage hike in the region.
“In the event that there will be a new wage order, it cannot be implemented in Boracay due to absence of economic activity there brought by the closure,” he said, adding that “a moratorium excluding the island from wage hike only within the rehabilitation period until it fully recovers is another option.”
Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the inter-agency task force on Boracay to close Western Visayas' top tourist destination for six months starting April 26.
The temporary closure is seen by the government as a short-term solution to address the environmental woes hounding the island-destination.
Local labor groups earlier asked various government agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), to convince the President to just close Boracay in staggered basis.
The total closure would greatly hit the labor workforce, who are mostly coming from various provinces in the region including Negros Occidental, they said.
Sancho said aside from addressing the possible technical issue on the new wage order, the provision for exemption or moratorium is also a means of sympathizing with the displaced workers in Boracay.
“We need to have a justification that wage increase cannot be applied to them. Though, the provision for exemption or moratorium is still subject to the Board's deliberation after three more public hearings,” he added.
The second public hearing for the proposed minimum daily wage increase is at Capiz Provincial Capitol in Roxas City on April 26.
The remaining two hearings will be on May 8 and 10 in cities of Iloilo and Bacolod, respectively.
Wage Order 23 already expired last March 16. However, since there is no new wage order yet, the same minimum wage rate still applies.
Under which, the daily minimum wage rate in non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers is P323.50.
For those employing less than 10 workers, the existing rate is P271.50.
Workers in the agriculture sector are receiving daily minimum wages of P281.50 and P271.50 for plantation and non-plantation, respectively.
Last January 22, the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (Paciwu-TUCP) filed the wage hike petition before the RTWPB-Western Visayas.
It sought to increase the salary of minimum wage earners in the region, depending on the classification of their work and the sector they belong.
The labor group asked for a daily increase of P150 for non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers.
Those with less than 10 employees, the proposed increase was pegged at P130.
Under the petition, agricultural plantations with an area of more than 24 hectares should provide a P140 daily increase. Those with an area of less than 24 hectares, with P130 additional pay.