BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) voiced disapproval over the recommended wage increase for Western Visayas.
MBCCI chief executive officer Frank Carbon said he felt he was going to faint after hearing the increases approved by the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) which were the following:
* P450 daily minimum for non-agricultural, industrial and commercial workers (for those employing over 10 workers) – or P55 hike from the current P395
* P420 daily minimum for non-agricultural, industrial and commercial workers (for those with 10 employees or less) – or P110 hike from the current P310
According to Carbon, MBCCI opposes the approved rates, pointing out that an individual who claimed to be a representative of the business sector and participated in the RTWPB deliberations was not even a member of their chamber.
MBCCI will be asking the RTWPB to recall the wage order, which has already been submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission for review.
Carbon said his group would also be pressing for more deliberations at the RTWPB and even seek a Temporary Restraining Order from the court against the wage hike order.
Carbon clarified that MBCCI is concerned with the plight of employees. However, he said, RTWPB should also consider the financial capacity of employers in this time of coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, for the agricultural sector is Western Visayas, the RTWPB ordered a P410 minimum wage per day from the current P315 minimum (or an increase of P95).
At first glance, according Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional director Atty. Sixto Rodriguez Jr., the increase seemed high. But he stressed that the RTWPB had not issued a wage order for the past two to three years.
The last wage order was issued last November 2019 yet (Wage Order No. 25).
According to Rodriguez, RTWPB planned to issue a wage order in 2021 but the pandemic struck.
The new wage increase covers the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental, including their component cities and the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
However, Rodriguez said, DOLE Region 6 will accept petitions for exemption from the wage hike such as from distressed establishments, new business enterprises and those affected by calamities natural and/or human induced./PN
