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Saturday, November 05, 2005
Cebu business rejects legislated hike
CEBU CITY -- Cebu's business leaders are opposing a legislated wage increase proposed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo because congressmen will just use the issue for grandstanding.
Carlos Co, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) vice president, said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) is better at setting daily pay because it is made up of representatives from the government, business, and labor.
"Congress will always be grandstanding for labor. Let's leave it to the wage board," Co told Sun.Star Cebu Thursday.
CCCI president Robert Go, who is in Turkey, said a legislated wage will ruin the economy because it will drive away investments and push inflation up.
Each region has different standards of living and wage setting should be done with this in mind, Go said.
However, Representatives Antonio Cuenco and Antonio Yapha Jr. favor raising the minimum wage through legislation.
Cuenco said he would propose a 25 percent increase in the daily pay when the House labor committee submits a report in the plenary.
Yapha agrees with a legislated wage increase to cover the effects of the reformed value-added tax (RVAT) on the consumers' purchasing power, but says the interests of businesses should also be considered.
The President told labor and business groups Friday to find a middle ground on a legislated wage hike, reminding concerned sectors that they should show more compassion to the less fortunate.
Ease pain
Arroyo said in a statement that, "While the best path to uplift the poor is through a strong economy, we must consider direct mitigating measures to ease the pain."
She said Congress and the executive branch, through the labor department, should help labor and management find a compromise figure.
"A quad-partite dialogue is in order, and must consider the full range of social, economic and political implications we need to maintain our economic gains," the economist said.
Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said it is still too early to seek a salary adjustment as a result of the implementation of the RVAT starting last November 1.
"Let's allow the dust of RVAT to settle before we decide if its effects have eroded the earlier wage hike," said Sto. Tomas, referring to the salary increase granted by regional wage boards to minimum wage earners last June.
Sto. Tomas issued the statement after the President, in a surprising announcement, asked Congress to enact a "reasonable" minimum wage law to help workers cope with the increase in the prices of basic goods and services due to RVAT.
Reasonable
Although Sto. Tomas is not against a legislated wage increase, she said a P125 across-the-board pay raise being pushed by militant labor groups "is not the "reasonable amount that the President is referring to."
Sto. Tomas also said the law prohibits the granting of a pay increase within 12 months after a new wage order has taken effect.
But Cuenco said that when the wage increase is tackled in the plenary, he would also fight for the abolition of RTWPB, which he called "inutile" since it has been identified with management.
He also said that the recent wage order could be amended through a legislated wage act.
Last June 16, Wage Order 11 took effect, setting the minimum wage of Metro Cebu workers at P223 and workers in the rest of the region at P220, from the previous rate of P208.
Business leaders in Cebu fear that higher wages will raise their operational costs and cut their competitiveness.
Go of CCCI said that Philippine labor is now one of the most expensive in Asia, five times higher than that of China.
Moving out
"Foreign investors have started transferring many of their production activities to China, and multinational manufacturers of consumer products have shifted to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam," said Go, who attended the China Business Summit last month.
As a result, Go said that almost all top supermarket items in the country are now imported.
Filomeno Lim, president of the Cebu Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said they oppose a legislated wage because politicians are out to win votes at the expense of businesses.
Lim warned that once labor costs threaten the viability of businesses, some firms might close shop or retrench workers.
Donald Dee, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Rene Soriano, head of the Employers' Confederation of the Philippines, earlier rejected a legislated salary increase, saying it's "not advisable" at this time, when the country and commercial establishments are facing political and economic crises. (EOB/AIV/Sunnex)
(November 5, 2005 issue)
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