Negros business groups oppose P97 wage hike

BACOLOD CITY—Business groups in Negros Occidental are opposing a petition to increase minimum daily wages in Western Visayas by P97 and a move to increase port service charges.

Frank Carbon, head of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Thursday said the proposed increases in wages and port charges would be an added burden to businesses in this city on top of increases in business

taxes.

“This is terrible and scary. All these increases will cause the prices of goods to skyrocket,” said Carbon. “We are in for hard times.”
The Western Visayas wage board is set to hold a public consultation on the petition filed by the Trade Union of Filipino Workers for a P97 daily wage increase for private sector workers in the region on Jan. 25, according to Carbon.