P59 pay increase sought in Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY—Workers in Bicol, one of the country’s most populous regions, are demanding a P59 increase in daily wages amid increasing prices of basic commodities.

Nathaniel Lacambra, head of the Bicol regional tripartite wage and productivity board, said the group Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) made the demand at a public hearing last Feb. 3.

Lacambra, in a press statement, said the wage board would discuss the demand.

He said 43 representatives of employers and 27 representatives of labor attended the public hearing. Their views, he said, would be taken into consideration when the board decides whether to grant a wage increase for Bicol workers. The region has about 2.1 million workers, according to the labor department.

The last time wages were increased in Bicol was in 2010 when the wage board ordered a daily pay increase of P15.

As expected, employers warned against the effects on businesses of increasing daily wages.

Adelfa Alcala, owner of one of the biggest chains of pawnshops in Bicol, said while employers recognized the need for a wage increase, businesses have different capacities to pay the wage increase.

Fernando Turiano, APL leader, said the P59 increase his group was demanding could not even be considered an increase but only “a restoration of lost purchasing power.” Reports from Rey Nasol and Mar Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon