DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary Bienvenido Laguesma still has reservations on the proposed P100 minimum wage hike.
The labor chief said the proposed wage hike could lead to a slowdown of the country’s economic growth.
Laguesma said the move might lead to layoffs in certain businesses who cannot afford to implement the increase.
“Sa aking pananaw, titignan namin ang consequences at implication. Maaaring ang ibubunga noon ay hindi siguro makakatulong sa patuloy na paglago ng ekonomiya. Lagi naming tinitignan ang balance dahil 99% sa tala ng existing businesses ay nasa micro-small-medium enterprises,” Laguesma said.
Even as the unemployment rate slightly improved to 4.5% in January 2024 compared to 4.8% in January 2023, Laguesma noted that the focus should be on generating more jobs for Filipinos.
“‘Yong generalized na sistema, hindi naman lahat ay pwedeng makatugon kaagad at maaaring mapinsala pa ang patuloy na paglikha ng mga hanapbuhay,” Laguesma said.
Employers Confederation of the Philippines president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. also warned that another round of wage hike in the private sector could cause inflation to quicken.
“Kung taas ang sweldo ng 5%, magkakaroon ng dagdag inflation na 1.2%. ‘Yong P100, 10 to 15% ‘yon eh. So goodbye Philippines ‘yon. Sa formal sector, marami ‘ron hindi kaya. Sa informal sector, hindi makikinabang so kasama sila sa hirap ‘pag tumaas ang inflation,” Ortiz-Luis said.
The bill proposing a P100 hike in the daily minimum wage of private sector workers has been approved by the Senate. (ABS-CBN News)
