BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines - A labor representative on the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has said he will seek another wage increase in Western Visayas following the oil price hikes this week.

Wennie Sancho, who was still deliberating on the amount of the pay hike he would seek, said on Wednesday he would file his petition before the RTWPB next week.

President Macapagal-Arroyo's lifting of Executive Order No. 839 that had set a ceiling on oil prices would open the floodgates and trigger hikes in the cost of basic goods and services, Sancho said.

This economic situation would lower the purchasing power of the workers so there was an urgent need for a wage increase to enable them to cope with the high cost of living, he said.

"With these deplorable economic conditions and without any means to recover their eroded purchasing power, the poor workers will be facing another blue Christmas," Sancho added.

The lifting of the oil price freeze indicated that the government was more concerned about the interest of the oil companies than the welfare of the poor and the needy, Sancho said.

Since there were no significant movements in petroleum prices in the world market, the price hikes in the country were mainly due to the greed of the oil firms, Sancho said.