Metro Manila’s minimum wage to increase, says wage board

MANILA, Philippines—A wage increase for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila could be implemented soon, after wage setters recognized on Wednesday the need to update salaries because of inflation and other economic factors.

“There is a recognition here that we need to increase the minimum wage, but we have yet to settle on an amount,” Alan Macaraya, chairman of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) for the National Capital Region, said.

The consensus was arrived at after the wage board heard comments from various sectors regarding the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’ (TUCP) P90 minimum wage hike petition for Metro Manila at a wage consultation held at the Taguig City University on Wednesday.

But while the general opinion at the consultation was in favor of a wage hike, Macaraya said they would hold more consultations in the coming weeks to affirm this trend.

“We need to verify this in other consultations. We will be holding another one on April 27 in Manila and on May 4 in Valenzuela,” he said.

Vicente Leogardo Jr., a representative of employers at the wage board, said that inflation would be one of the leading factors in setting the wage increase, noting that prices of basic commodities and fuel have gone up significantly since the last wage hike was applied on May 26, 2011.

“At least, we’re getting some kind of message that there’s really a need to increase wages because of the impact of inflation. Workers primarily demanded a wage hike because they say that their purchasing power has already eroded,” he said.

Leogardo said employers would not oppose a wage hike but would like to raise several concerns in deciding how much the minimum wage would increase the minimum wage.

“It should depend primarily upon inflation, and how much more they can give to their employees,” he said.

Another issue that was brought up during the consultation was the Philippines’ comparatively high minimum wages.

“If you look at it globally, our minimum wage in Metro Manila is higher than the entry level in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. If we continue to increase minimum wages, we might not be able to compete with other countries in our region (in attracting investors),” Leogardo said.

Both Macaraya and Leogardo said these issues would be considered in the formal deliberation of the TUCP’s petition.

“We have to do a happy balance of the amount that would sustain our workers properly, the capacity of the employer to pay, the consumer price index, the inflation rate, and other factors,” Macaraya said.

He stressed that the RTWPB has not started to discuss TUCP’s petition as one year has not elapsed since the board added a P22-cost of living allowance to the minimum wage in Metro Manila on May 26, 2011, bringing the minimum wage up to P426 for industrial workers and P389 for agricultural workers.

Under current laws, regional wage boards are prohibited from tackling a wage hike petition within a year of the previous wage increase, except if a supervening event, such as uncontrollable increases in the prices of goods, is found. The wage board earlier said there was no supervening event meriting a wage hike.

However, the board is not prohibited from doing consultations and studies on a possible wage hike.

Macaraya said the opinions they gathered from the consultations would be helpful in hastening the deliberation of the TUCP’s wage hike petition by late May.