BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Citing the continuing rise in the prices of fuel, the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) has again appealed to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) to temporarily suspend the wage order mandating an increase in the daily minimum wage.
MBCCI chief executive officer Frank Carbon said it has become an additional burden for businesses that are yet to recover from the adverse economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Under Wage Order No. RBVI-26, the daily minimum pay for workers in the non-agricultural, industrial and commercial businesses with more than 10 employees is now P450 – an increase of P55 from the previous P395.
Establishments employing people less than 10, meanwhile, now have a minimum pay of P420 — P110 more from the previous P310.
Those in the agriculture sector, meanwhile, will have a minimum pay of P410 or P95 more than the previous P315, while house helpers will have a minimum pay of P4,500, monthly – an increase of P500.
The wage order came into effect on June 5 but Carbon said the MBCCI is hopeful the NWPC will grant their appeal.
They have also been calling for the temporary suspension of the excise tax on fuel.
Businesses have yet to recover from the economic downtown due to the pandemic, lamented Carbon, and how fuel price hikes are battering them, too.
On Tuesday, oil firms implemented price hikes of P6.55 per liter for diesel, P2.70 per liter for gasoline, and P5.45 per liter for kerosene./PN
