THE Central Visayas wage board agreed to raise the daily minimum wage by P20 in Metro Cebu to help workers cope with rising prices of goods.
For workers outside Metro Cebu, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) agreed on an increase of P15 per day. The wage board decided on a P10 increase for companies that employ 10 workers or fewer.
The adjustment will bring the minimum wage in Metro Cebu to P386 per day. Before this, the latest increase for Central Visayas workers was P13, which took effect last March 10, 2017.
Lawyer and RTWPB 7 Director Alvin Villamor said they will do their best to send their recommendation this week or next to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC).
If the NWPC finds everything in order, it would authorize the regional wage board to publish the new wage order sometime this month, and the increase would then take effect 15 days after publication.
“Nakita namin ang adverse effect ng TRAIN Law sa mga manggagawa at this time. Parang nabigla ‘yung ekonomiya kaya may epekto sa ordinary na mga manggagawa (We saw some adverse effects of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law on workers. It has had some jarring effects on the economy),” Villamor told SunStar Super Balita in an interview, referring to the first of potentially five tax reform packages of the Duterte administration.
He believes it may take two to three years for workers to realize the positive impact of the TRAIN Law, which exempts those earning P250,000 or less per year from income tax.
Villamor explained that the wage board considered employers’ capacity to grant an increase.
Balancing interests
“If we just increase wages without considering the employers, we might have to deal with retrenchments or company closures,” said Villamor, who is regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole). “It doesn’t work that way.”
The wage order will consider Metro Cebu as Class A, which will cover the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Naga, Carcar, and Danao, as well as the towns of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, and San Fernando.
Class B includes the cities of Toledo and Bogo, and all other towns in Cebu Province, except for the islands of Bantayan and Camotes.
Class C covers Tagbilaran City and all the towns of Bohol and Negros Oriental, while Class D refers to Siquijor Province, and the towns in Bantayan and Camotes in Cebu.
“Much as we would like to have a bigger increase, we cannot grant that because we have also to balance the interest of management. Kon di na sad mabuhi ang mga negosyante, dakodako sad ta ug unemployment (If we can’t help business owners stay afloat, we would deal with more unemployment),” said Philip Tan, one of the business sector’s representatives in the wage board.
Atty. Villamor said it was he who suggested the P20 increase for Metro Cebu, which the members eventually agreed on.
When the board deliberated last week, Atty. Ernesto Carreon of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines recommended an increase of P74, while Jose Tomongha, chairperson of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, pushed for P75. Both men represent workers.
Tan, for his part, reportedly suggested an increase of P13.
At one point, the wage board deliberated on an increase of P34, but eventually agreed on lesser amounts.