AFTER the five-hour deliberation by members of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas, there is no consensus yet as to how much the minimum wage increase for private sector workers in the region will be.
Six members of RTWPB-Western Visayas attended the closed-door deliberation at Business Inn Hotel in Bacolod City Wednesday afternoon, June 6.
Only Luis Estrella, one of the two management representatives, was absent.
Wennie Sancho, who attended the deliberation, said "arguments" between the management and labor sector transpired.
Sancho said he personally believes that the management remains "hard" as far as the proposed wage increase is concerned.
"We have not yet reached a consensus," he said, adding the Board needs another round of deliberation on Friday, June 8, so they expect a clear and common decision by Monday next week, June 11.
The first deliberation came after RTWPB-Western Visayas concluded its last public hearing also in Bacolod City on May 10.
The deliberation is intended mainly for the Board to discuss the petition as well as at least nine position papers submitted by various groups in the region during the four public hearings.
Last January 22, the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (Paciwu-TUCP) filed a petition seeking for a P130 to P150 increase depending on the worker's classification.
The labor group wants a daily increase of P150 for non-agriculture, industrial, and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers.
For 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 area of less than 24 hectares, with P130 additional pay.
If approved, it will replace the current Wage Order No. 23 which already expired on March 16.
It provided a daily minimum wage rate of P323.50 in non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers.
For those employing less than 10 workers, the existing rate is P271.50.
Workers in the agriculture sector, meanwhile, are receiving daily minimum wages of P281.50 and P271.50 for plantation and non-plantation, respectively.
Sancho said RTWPB-Western Visayas still has to consider some economic indicators before it can arrive with a consensus.
"We remain hopeful that the result of the deliberation will favor the workers' side," he added.
SunStar Bacolod tried to contact RTWPB-Western Visayas Chairman Johnson Cañete, also the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment in Western Visayas, but he cannot be reached for an interview.
But before the deliberation, at the sidelines of the Regional Coordination Council Meeting Wednesday, Cañete said he hopes that they can come up with a decision after one deliberation only.
"Hopefully, we can immediately have an agreed decision but if not, we will set another day to further deliberate," Cañete told SunStar Bacolod.
Moreover, the regional director agreed to the statement of Sancho that a new wage order is supposed to be issued on or before June 10 this year.
Based on the Revised Rules on Minimum Wage Lifting of the National Wages and Productivity Commission, there should be a new order within 30 days after the last wage hearing.
Cañete said that is under the law, but sometimes laws give some leeway.
"Remember this is not a single sector decision, it has to be a body agreement," he said, adding that "as long as there is one of the seven-member Board not convinced of the decision then we cannot just go out and issue an order."
Expressing hope that it might be realized this month, the chairman called on both the labor and management sectors to "agree" for the Board to easily come up with a unified decision.