Palace on P15-wage hike: It’s good still

Malacañang Palace. FACEBOOK PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The P15-wage hike in Metro Manila may be measly for some, but it is still additional pay, Malacañang said Wednesday.

“Some will call it not enough or not sufficient but it’s still something to be given—something in addition to what they are already getting,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing.

Valte said the wage increase, which will be implemented in April, is a product of a compromise between the requests of labor groups and employers.

“That brings the total wage in NCR to P481 (for non-agricultural workers), if I am not mistaken, and it’s good still,” she said. Meanwhile, minimum wage earners working in the agricultural sector will receive P444 per day.

READ: DOLE approves P15 wage hike in Metro Manila

She said it was a given that labor groups and employers will never agree or be on the same level when it comes to the issue of wage hike.

“The job of the Wage Board is to determine what can be given that will also not be detrimental to employers. Meaning, if you give too high—this is one of the considerations of Wage Board and they tell you as much—that if you give too high an increase, the employers will not be able to absorb it,” she explained.

But labor groups said the amount was “insulting.”

“The P15.00 increase in workers’ daily wage is not even enough to cover for the increase in fares in the country’s train systems. It’s not enough to cover for the rising prices of basic commodities, especially food items, and rising payments for basic services,” Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairperson Elmer “Bong” Labog said, citing Ibon Foundation’s computation of the family living wage.

Based on 2014 prices, Ibon said an average Filipino family needs at least P1,086 to live decently.

Labog said the minimum wage is no longer enough to cover the needs of Filipinos and that they are now campaigning for a “national minimum wage” of P16,000 per month.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), on the other hand, called it “unacceptable.”

“Rather than closing the gap between rich and poor, government officials in the (wage) Board has further widened the gaping inequality amongst Filipinos,” TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

Tanjusay said the concerned agencies should reveal to the public the formula they used to come up with the P15-wage hike.