Friday, May 02, 2008 Region 7 wage board sets hearing
THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) for Central Visayas yesterday announced they will be holding public hearings on two petitions for salary increases.
The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) have both submitted petitions for a P150 increase in the minimum daily wage.
The current minimum daily wage in Central Visayas is P250. This was set in the last wage order issued on Nov. 11 last year.
Under the law, only one wage order is allowed every year, unless there are supervening conditions. Last April 23, the RTWPB 7, chaired by Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7 Director Elias Cayanong, passed a resolution declaring as extra-ordinary the increases in the prices of basic commodities. This was also confirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.
Public hearings on the petition can only start 15 days after a notice is published in a newspaper. RTWPB 7 has decided to publish the notice on May 3 and hold the hearing starting May 19.
Lawyer Jose Boquecosa, labor representative to the RTWPB, said he is confident that a salary increase will be approved.
Cayanong said that in discussing the wage increase petition, they will consider the inflation rate, the unemployment rate, and the capability of business to survive.
Director Asteria Caberte of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 is the vice chairman of RTWPB 7.
Other members of the wage board are: Dole 7 Assistant Director Exequiel Sarcauga, Director Marlene Rodriguez of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) 7, businessman Charles Streegan and lawyer Hedelito Pascual as management representatives, and Marianito Ventura and Boquecosa as labor representatives.
Rodriguez said that based on Neda's 2006 study, a family of six needs P13,000 a month to live a decent life.
Marathon hearings
In Manila, the National Capital Region (NCR) wage board has scheduled marathon hearings after a public hearing set on May 13 to tackle petitions for a salary increase.
"If all evidence are submitted during the May 13 hearing, the board will begin the marathon deliberations, and in the next two or three weeks there will be a decision," Ciriaco Lagunzad III, NWPC executive director told reporters yesterday.
Lagunzad said he hopes the salary increase that can be granted for Metro Manila will not be lower than P30.
He said the highest salary increase granted to NCR workers was P30 in 2006 and this is because of the presence of "supervening conditions" such as the effects of the expanded value-added tax (e-VAT) and the Gulf war.
Lagunzad also said he expects key regions like the NCR and Regions 3, 4 and 7 to issue a wage order this month. The rest, he said, might issue the orders in June.
"We are hopeful that before end of June all wage boards have issued the (wage) order," he said. The NCR wage board in 2007 granted a P12 wage increase, bringing to P362 the current wage rate in Metro Manila.
Expectation
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) filed an P80 across-the-board wage increase petition for NCR last month. Alex Aguilar, spokesman for the TUCP, said they are expecting that a higher increase would be granted by the wage board this time.
"We're expecting it should be higher considering there is the declaration of the supervening condition and everything is rising. If the regional wage boards will give lower than last year, I think they're up for abolition," Aguilar said.
He also warned the NCR wage board to be "careful" in its decision and stop favoring the employers. (EOB/Sunnex)
