A business group leader in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental expressed his opposition to the P100 legislated wage increase.
Frank Carbon, executive director of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Monday, February 19, giving such wage increase to private sector employees will only worsen the situation and even drive up the prices of goods and commodities.
He also warned that more employees may lose jobs.
Carbon pointed out that the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), Philippine Food Exporters (PHilfoodex), Philippine Franchising Association (PFA), People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), Philippine Constructors Association Inc. (PCA), IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines (SEIPI), Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA), The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (AMCHAM), The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors Inc. (PALSCON) and the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCII) have already issued a statement in reaction to the issue.
Amid opposition to the proposed P100 legislated wage increase, joint business groups appealed to policymakers to rather come up with a comprehensive approach and policies to address economic inequality in the country.
Senate Bill (SB) No. 2534 or “An Act Providing for a 100 Pesos Daily Minimum Wage Increase for Employees and Workers in the Private Sector,” sponsored by Senator Jinggoy Estrada seeks to provide all employees in the private sector in the country, whether agricultural or non-agricultural.
In a joint statement submitted to the Senate of the Philippines, the group said that the proposed legislation will not only hurt the micro, small, and medium enterprises but also put the 47 million others at a disadvantage while favoring only the five million Filipino workers.
“Legislated wages, while hurting especially micro, small, and medium enterprises, will worsen the plight of the informal sector and its overwhelming 47-million strong presence in the workforce and contribution to the economy. We take the cudgels for them who form a preponderant part of the working population,” the statement said.
The group said that a comprehensive approach includes investing more in education, skills development, and infrastructure, as well as creating an enabling environment for business growth and job creation.
“It also means passing legislation to once and for all solve low productivity, poor governance, excessive regulations, worsening poverty and serious income inequality which characterize a country with a large informal sector,” it said.
It added that informal sectors consist of agricultural workers with no employers, fisherfolks, unpaid family workers, home-based workers, ambulant vendors and street hawkers, jeepney/tricycle and pedicab drivers, temporary construction workers, among others, will not benefit from the proposed wage hike but will be the most vulnerable by higher inflation rate as a result of the legislated measure.*