Aquino asks Filipino-Chinese to give workers ‘a little bit more’

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

President Benigno Aquino III on Friday urged a group of Filipino-Chinese businessmen led by billionaire tycoon Lucio Tan to share their wealth by giving their employees “a little bit more.”

“(P)erhaps your companies can take the initiative: Make the effort to give your employees a little more, and it will serve to drive them to be even more productive, while at the same time spurring a virtuous cycle of trust, confidence and sustained growth in terms of our economy,” he said.

Mr. Aquino was the guest of honor at the 30th biennial convention of the Federation of the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry held in Pasay City on Friday.

Endless tug of war

The President recalled that when he was a congressman, he had filed a bill calling on the country’s businesses “to share part of their net new profits with their employees.”

“The thinking behind this was simple: Our business environment had reached a point where management and labor had become too adversarial. Where labor wanted more benefits, management wanted to minimize costs, leading to a seemingly endless tug-of-war, often at the expense of potentially lucrative opportunities for all,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said his intention was “to make the antagonistic ‘you versus I’ into a ‘we,’ and the methodology is a system that rewards productivity, that allows all stakeholders to benefit from increased profits.”

But, the President said, he was realistic enough to recognize that such a bill would have difficulty passing Congress.

Mr. Aquino also appealed to the 300 business leaders gathered at the forum to be more generous with the wages they offer their employees.

Workers, he stressed, are also consumers, and limiting their wages would limit the “purchasing power of the market.”

“The true path to sustained profit and growth lies in empowering our workers. Increasing their disposable income increases demand, and therefore increases competition,” he said.

“It logically follows that this pushes companies to strive for greater productivity and efficiency, allowing them to become even more competitive, especially beyond our borders, which leads to growth for the economy at large. This is the approach that allows for a situation where, truly, everybody wins,” Mr. Aquino said.