CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Through its Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB), the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) - Central Luzon recently held a hearing on petitions for minimum wage adjustment in the region.
Minimum wage
Dole-Central Luzon director Zenaida Angara-Campita said 154 employers and 81 labor representatives from 84 establishments in Central Luzon attended the hearing on September 20 at The Orchid Gardens.
Wage board secretary Kenneth Liza discussed the preliminary results of the surveys administered during the conducted provincial public consultations which will serve as one of the decision-making tools of the wage board.
Aside from the hearing, the socio-economic status of the region, price monitoring report, and price situation of trade agency-monitored basic and prime commodities were also presented by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Department of Agriculture (DA), ans Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), respectively.
Junjiee Lim Ponio, supervising economic and development specialist of Neda-Central Luzon, discussed the socio-economic situation in the region.
In his report, he said the inflation rate in the region decreased from 3.7 percent in January to 2.8 percent in August while labor productivity has exhibited continuous growth in the industries of service, manufacturing, construction, and electricity, gas, and water supply.
Meanwhile, DTI-Central Luzon director Judith Angeles has urged micro, small, and medium enterprises with a capital of less than P3 million to register as barangay micro business enterprises and be exempted on the payment of income tax and minimum wage for two years.