Metro pay to increase due to oil price hikes

MANILA, Philippines—The regional wage board in Metro Manila has ruled that the recent spike in oil prices constitutes a “supervening event” that merits an increase in wages or nonwage benefits of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Wednesday.

Wage boards are by law not allowed to raise salaries for one year after the last increase unless they declare that there is a supervening event in their area within that period.

The wage board will monitor prices of petroleum products and other basic goods within the next 15 days, hold public hearings afterwards, and, if the situation does not improve, determine the amount and form of the increase, Baldoz told reporters.

Thus, she said, any increase may come only after Labor Day.

“What is very clear is that the process has started. If the same conditions [constituting the supervening event] exist and the price increases are sustained, then that’ll signal that the board will really have to consider the amount and form,” she said.

But while the wage board in Metro Manila has declared that there was a “supervening event” in the capital, the board in Region X or Northern Mindanao has ruled that there was no such condition in its area.

“So, two regions have ruled on whether they have a supervening event. One is ‘yes’ and one is ‘no,’” Baldoz said.

Extraordinary increases

The minimum wage of non-agricultural and agricultural workers in the NCR stands at P404 and P367, respectively. The last time the wage board in the region raised wages was in July 2010.

But in its resolution on April 12, the wage board said the continuing political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa was “causing extraordinary increases in the prices of crude oil and local petroleum products.”

It noted that the price of Dubai crude increased from $72.49 in July 2010 to $114.83 this month. Likewise, unleaded gasoline prices also rose from P47.84 in July 2010 to P59.39 in March, and diesel prices went up from P38.35 to P50.65 in the same period.

“These extraordinary oil price increases resulted in higher transportation fares and some prices in basic commodities and services,” the wage board said.

“There is a need to review the current minimum wage rates [in the region] in consultation with labor, management and other concerned sectors in the light of these continuing price increases and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’ petition for a P75 per day wage adjustment,” it said.

LPG, kerosene

The board also noted the “growing clamor” from various sectors, “including the President and members of the Cabinet,” for wage boards to convene and determine if a wage hike was needed.

Labor Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte said the crisis in the Middle East was expected to be a “prolonged” one.

With the rising costs of fuel, two party-list lawmakers are seeking the inclusion of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene in the list of basic commodities so that these could be strictly monitored by the government for the protection of consumers.

Gabriela party-list Representatives Emerenciana de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, authors of House Bill No. 4100, pointed out that LPG and kerosene were not only household necessities but also socially sensitive products whose prices were susceptible to change due to economic movements or activities.

As of last January, the average selling price of LPG is from P650 to P690 per 11-kg cylinder.

HB 4100 seeks to amend Republic Act No. 7581 (or the Price Act), which provides protection to consumers by prescribing measures against undue price increases during emergency and similar occasions.

According to De Jesus, Republic Act No. 8180, which deregulated the downstream oil industry, removed government control over the price-setting of all petroleum products including LPG and kerosene, greatly affecting the masses.

Ilagan said the recent fuel price increases would automatically affect the daily budget of each household for basic necessities, especially for food.

She said the current daily cost of living of a family of six in the NCR was P917, and the minimum wage, P404 a day.

“It is a reality that Filipino families try to survive on a deficit income. And with these economic scenarios, another increase in the prices of commodities would be too much for the battered Filipino poor,” she said.

The co-authors of HB 4100 are party-list Representatives Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, Raymond Palatino of Kabataan and Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers.

Bus fares

A fare increase for public utility buses will have to be implemented in Metro Manila and the provinces after the Holy Week to allow operators to cope with spiraling fuel prices.

Fare increases for jeepneys and taxis have already been approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

Manuel Iway, one of three members of the regulatory body’s board, said it would “deliberate on the different petitions of bus operator groups after the Holy Week.”

He said the grace period was for the benefit of thousands of commuters expected to take buses home to their respective provinces for the Holy Week and Easter commemorations.

Early this week, bus operators in Central and Northern Luzon implemented a fare increase that caught their regular passengers by surprise.

The bus operators said they were merely taking back the discounts given in 2009, when fuel prices dropped, and that the new fares were still within the rates approved by the LTFRB in 2008.

Last January, the Intercity Bus Operators Association, whose members operate in Metro Manila, sought a fare increase by P5 to P14 for the first 5 kilometers, and a hiked rate of P2.55 from the current P1.85 for every succeeding kilometer.

It also sought an increase in fares for air-conditioned buses to P17 from P11 for the first 5 km, and to P2.90 for every succeeding kilometer from P2.20.

P8B for military

The Southern Luzon Bus Operators Association has a pending petition to increase the ordinary bus fare from P1.30 to P1.80 per kilometer and the air-conditioned bus fare from P1.60 to P2.10 per kilometer.

The militant fishers’ group Pamalakaya assailed the 3-year P8-billion fuel subsidy for the military, saying that small fishers had yet to receive any form of oil subsidy from the government.

Quoting reports from the Department of National Defense (DND), Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said the national government would be spending P8 billion in taxpayers’ money mostly for the fuel supply requirements of government troops in Luzon.

“The Aquino government is gearing for an all-out unjust war instead of … an all-out war against poverty, hunger, foodlessness and joblessness,” Hicap said in a statement.

He said the P8-billion fuel subsidy for the military was equivalent to six months’ worth of subsidy for almost one million small-scale fishermen under the proposed P32-billion petroleum subsidy for marginal fishers.

Last year, Pamalakaya proposed a P32-billion oil subsidy for small fishermen to enable them to keep the wheels of production in their sector moving despite the high prices of oil products and of fishing gear and equipment. With reports from Cynthia D. Balana, Paolo G. Montecillo and Amy R. Remo