Negros labor leader seeks ouster of regional DOLE head

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—A labor leader is seeking the transfer or resignation of Ponciano Ligutom, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment in Western Visayas, for prematurely saying that the wage increase in the region was not likely to exceed P10 a day.

Wennie Sancho, labor representative on the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Western Visayas , said Ligutom’s statement was both inappropriate and unethical.

Sancho said that Ligutom, as wage board chairman, should not have made any premature announcements and should have remained impartial.

“If that is what the regional director is doing, hearings are no longer necessary. He should just prepare a wage order and sign it,” Sancho said. “He should think before he speaks. We condemn what he did.”

Ligutom said he respects Sancho’s opinion, as it was part of his  job as a representative of labor.

On Thursday, Ligutom said workers in Western Visayas should not expect a wage increase higher than P10 a day since wage increases in the regions were traditionally lower than those in Metro Manila, where a P10 increase in the minimum wage had been announced recently.

Sancho immediately slammed the statement, saying it was an indication Ligutom supported “the wage freeze policy of the government.”

A labor group in Western Visayas that is allied with the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines has filed a petition for a P113.57 increase in daily minimum wages for commercial and industrial workers, P100.45 for workers in plantations of more than 24 hectares and P96.35 for workers in plantations of less than 24 hectares.