Militant labor groups push for tax break

To help workers cope with the increasing cost of essential commodities, several labor groups are pressing for tax exemptions for those earning less than P600 a day.

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido ng Manggagawa and their affiliates called on Congress yesterday to enact the tax relief measure on top of the legislated wage increase they and other labor groups are demanding.

BMP president Leody de Guzman said workers need the tax break so they could buy their daily needs and live decently.

"With the current cost of essential commodities, wage increases would have a very minimal impact on the workers’ purchasing power so the government should help by providing tax exemptions," he said.

Existing law already exempts those earning less than P93,600 a year from paying taxes, a cut-off deemed too low by the BMP.

De Guzman noted that party-list Rep. Renato Magtubo filed a measure last month providing for amendments to the Tax Reform Act of 1997.

The bill seeks to exempt all workers earning less than P600 a day, or those whose total compensation does not exceed P219,000 a year, from paying income taxes and filing income tax returns.

"Current estimates peg the cost of living for a family of six at P600 a day, which is double the daily minimum wage rate in Metro Manila, while the prescribed take-home pay in other areas is even lower," De Guzman said.

Aside from the tax break, the BMP is also pressing for a minimum P65 increase in the daily take-home pay of workers nationwide.

De Guzman expressed doubts whether an agreement signed between four employers groups led by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and three labor federations over a week ago would lead to industrial peace.

Under the agreement, the employers offered a moratorium on retrenchments in exchange for a moratorium on strikes on the part of the workers.

De Guzman accused some foreign-owned companies of replacing regular workers with "contractuals" in a bid to cut costs.

"To sell their products at much lower prices, many companies are laying off their regular workers and instead hire contractuals so they could save in labor cost," he said.

De Guzman said the reported retrenchment of close to 200 workers by Asahi Glass Philippines was not an isolated case.

He said that by hiring contractual workers Asahi would be able to save P20,000 per worker a year from the withholding of medical insurance, educational assistance and other financial benefits provided to regular employees.

De Guzman claimed the Labor department was not doing anything to address the growing problem.

He blamed the retrenchments on "heightened global competition due to policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization."

De Guzman said labor groups led by the BMP will spearhead a protest action in Makati today to press for the tax break and other demands.

Another labor group, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), staged a nationwide protest action yesterday to demand a P125 across-the-board wage increase for workers nationwide.

"We have exhausted all belt-tightening measures we know, but our very meager wages are not enough to cover the rising cost of living. Everyday we face the problem of hunger and poverty," KMU chairman Elmer Labog said.

The KMU vowed to continue their mass actions until Congress heeds their call for a legislated wage increase.