|
Friday, November 04, 2005
Arroyo asks Congress to fix workers' pay
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo acknowledged Thursday that the Reformed Value-Added Tax Law has raised the prices of goods and urged Congress to enact a "reasonable" minimum wage law to ease workers' burdens.
However, she also refused to suggest an amount, and said the wage increases given to private workers by the regional wage boards starting last June were in anticipation of the RVAT Law's scheduled implementation last July 1.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said it is up to Congress to balance the interests of labor and employers in coming up with an "acceptable" and "well-deserved" legislated wage rate.
However, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business groups objected to Malacañang's proposal and warned that businesses will close with the added labor costs.
Labor unions in Cebu are considering asking for a wage increase, as workers start feeling the effects of the RVAT on their cost of living.
After being earlier delayed by the Supreme Court, the RVAT took effect last Nov. 1.
Contradictory
Bunye declined to say whether Arroyo will certify as urgent the House bills seeking a P125 per day across-the-board wage increase and the bill fixing a minimum wage rate. He said figures should be negotiated by the stakeholders and the lawmakers.
He also did not answer queries on whether Arroyo discussed the matter with her Cabinet, because Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas and Budget Secretary Romulo Neri told separate radio interviews that a legislated wage increase would not be good for the country.
"The President is really after the welfare of the average Filipino and the labor sector comprises a big sector of our citizenry. This is something that all administrations would like to push, and the President is particularly interested this time because of the conditions we are facing," Bunye said.
Since the RVAT Law took effect last Nov. 1, Arroyo said the country is "already reaping the gains of fiscal stability," citing the peso's rise to a five-month high against the dollar this week and a surge in Philippine share prices to a three-month high.
"Further down the road, we expect our credit ratings to improve as the world looks towards a new vibrancy in our economy," the President said.
No controls
Right now, though, the more immediate concern of consumers are the rising costs of goods and services.
Without a law mandating price controls and imposing penalties for traders who overprice their goods, the Cebu City Government can only monitor the prices of goods to guide the consumers.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said Thursday that unless a price control law is passed or a state of emergency is declared, City Hall cannot close erring establishments.
Since the City's immediate response is limited to price monitoring, the mayor appealed to traders to do business fairly to help consumers cope with the effects of the RVAT Law.
"I would like to ask establishments here to demonstrate solidarity with the community. Can you please sell one of your products at cost? Can you please put one basic commodity on sale to at least cushion the shock? I think that's not too much to ask," he said.
In a news conference Thursday, Osmeña said there is no such thing as overpricing at this time and the City cannot run after establishments accused of overpricing.
Silent laws
"We are not under a price control, so technically, there's no such thing as overpricing. Overpricing means no one wants to buy it because the price is too high and we can't run after traders on that basis alone," he said.
Much as they want to apprehend traders who will overprice their goods, the local price monitoring council also found out that local laws are silent on penalties.
City Planning Officer Nigel Paul Villarete also lamented that the City has no basis in saying that some goods are overpriced, since the price ceilings of basic commodities have not been set.
For his part, Chester Cokaliong, chief operating officer of Cokaliong Shipping Lines, said that at first, the new tax measure was an additional burden only to passengers because shipping companies just pass on to them the 10 percent RVAT.
However, ship operators began to suffer an increase in operating costs after their suppliers, especially for fuel, added 10 percent RVAT to their billings.
Tax holiday
Florentino Palacio, president and general manager of FJP Shipping Lines, earlier urged the government to provide shipping operators a tax holiday on imported vessel parts and access to credit facilities with minimal interest rates.
He said they got no response from their call.
Lawyer Democrito Barcenas, a member of the board of directors of the Gloria Step Down Movement, said the revenues that will be earned from RVAT will not necessarily go to social services.
"We all know that around 56 to 90 percent of the RVAT will go to the payment of foreign debt," he said in an interview with GMA 7.
To guide consumers where they can buy goods at a lower price, the monitoring council set up a hotline where consumers can report complaints of drastic price increases.
Through hotline number 253-9904, the public may also report any activity of traders that tends to take advantage of the RVAT Law.
Blackboards will also be put up in the north and south bus terminals, SM City terminal, Fuente Osmeña area and Plaza Independencia to inform the public where goods are sold at a lower price and the prevailing prices of consumer products.
According to the Oct. 25 to Nov. 2 price monitoring of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), there is no abnormal increase yet on the prices of basic commodities in the supermarkets and some construction materials.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez asked DTI and other members of the council for a weekly report of their monitoring. (LCR/EOB/AIV of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(November 4, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
