‘GMA insulting Congress by rejecting wage hike’

President Arroyo has insulted her foes — and even her allies in the House of Representatives — by rejecting the P125 legislated wage hike they had approved after more than six years of deliberating on the measure, detained Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran said yesterday.

At Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye insisted that granting workers non-wage benefits would be best for now to avoid the negative impact of a legislated wage hike on businesses. These non-wage benefits could be "through expanded health and educational services as well as micro-enterprise support," he said.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry meanwhile welcomed Malacañang’s stand, saying the House did not study the implications of the legislated wage hike well enough.

But Beltran — who is being detained on charges of rebellion — said Malacañang "is trivializing the painstaking six-year efforts of labor formations and lawmakers to get a bill such as House Bill 345 approved by Congress."

He pointed out that "no other House bill of recent passage has been as heavily and broadly campaigned for by the people."

"The Palace is throwing away like dirty water the P125 legislated wage hike bill, the passage of which both majority and minority (lawmakers) have unanimously supported, and which millions of Filipino workers have worked to achieve since 1999," Beltran said.

He views the position taken by the Palace — that wage hike petitions are better coursed through regional wage boards rather than Congress — as "unreasonable, anti-worker and insulting to Congress."

"The Palace’s statement was an insult to the prolonged efforts of Congress to debate on, agree upon and finally pass pro-worker legislation," Beltran said in a statement distributed to House reporters.

Bunye’s pronouncements, according to Beltran, also expose the government’s "lack of accountability and responsibility for the welfare of millions of Filipino workers," which runs counter to the image it wants to project to the people.

Beltran said Mrs. Arroyo herself earlier said a wage increase is needed, and that "she knows that this measure has been pending for so long."

He added that even if this P125 legislated wage hike was spread over three years, congressmen from both the majority and minority blocs, including the party-list representatives, have worked long and hard just to pass this "landmark bill."

The House approved on second reading Wednesday night a bill seeking a P125 across-the-board increase in the daily wage of workers nationwide despite the opposition of business leaders to a legislated wage adjustment.

The daily increase, as proposed by House Bill 345, would be spread over three years — P45 on Oct. 1 of this year; P40 on Oct. 1, 2007; and another P40 on Oct. 1, 2008.

Mrs. Arroyo had earlier supported a legislated wage hike but backtracked after a recent meeting with businessmen, who said they could not afford such an increase.

Beltran, charged for allegedly taking part in the failed Feb. 24 coup against the Arroyo government, nevertheless expressed hope that the Senate would "remain steadfast in pursuing a counterpart of the P125 wage hike bill, or an even better version of it."

One of the principal authors of the wage bill, House Deputy Majority Leader Edcel Lagman, did not issue any statement on the Arroyo administration’s stand, but instead set his sights on the country’s businessmen.

"Capitalists are unreliable allies once their profits are endangered even by the just demands of social justice. Capital forgets that labor is its indispensable partner in production and is also entitled to a fair return of its input," he said.

Lagman said "every time there are moves to increase salaries either before the wage boards or in Congress, giant employers (become) hysterical as they drumbeat ritualistic, fancied fears."

He also branded as "blackmail" the threats OF businessmen like PCCI top honcho Donald Dee to "withdraw support for a parliamentary system if the President signs the staggered legislated wage increase."

"This is brazen blackmail. Businessmen’s commitment to Charter change is merely pocket-deep," Lagman said in a statement.

The tripartite wage boards, he said, are "mere delegates or agents of the legislature and Congress, as the principal, can reassume the wage-fixing power anytime.

"A nationwide across-the-board increase is justified because workers’ wages have been equally depleted by inflation and the escalating costs of basic commodities and services even as there are negligible differences in the cost of living among regions," he said.

Middle ground

Bunye said the Arroyo administration is working closely with the business sector on these non-wage benefit programs as it strives to strike a middle ground on wage issues under the auspices of the regional tripartite wage boards.

"We share the concern of the Congress over the need for wage adjustments to help our workers cope with prevailing socioeconomic pressures, but we believe the best venue to resolve this issue on a regional basis would be the tripartite wage boards," he said.

Bunye added that the wage boards "are already actively engaged in their work and have in fact moved forward in some regions."

He said a "win-win situation" that adheres to better workers’ welfare, a stable business environment and a healthy respect for the free market, which are foundations of a strong economy, is possible and can be worked out.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, for his part, said it is important to consider the concerns raised by the business sector as well.

"The employers might not be able to afford a legislated wage increase. It might even worsen unemployment rate as some factories might be forced to shut down," Ermita said.

"Things might become more difficult for us if we are not able to balance things very well," he added.

Ermita said the issue must be studied carefully before any decision is made on salary adjustments for workers.

More study needed

Dee, interviewed during the weekly radio program "Para Sa Iyo… Bayan" of Vice President Noli De Castro, said he was thankful Mrs. Arroyo said she does not support the legislated wage increase and that the Senate supports her proposal to exempt minimum-wage earners from paying the 10-percent withholding tax.

He said the House should have studied the basis of the bill, which he claimed has no "economic logic."

"They have been asking for that for 10 years and we can show that more than P125 has been given," Dee said. "The dynamics of adjustment must be based on realities on the ground."

He said the PCCI is not opposed to salary adjustments but these should be discussed by parties with an interest in the issue such as employees, employers and the government.

The PCCI was scheduled to begin yesterday a dialogue with employees on a wage adjustment.

"This proposal (legislated wage hike) is inappropriate because, in the first place, we do not know what will happen next year and the year after that. Why should we tie down these three years if the price of oil would go beyond P100 (per liter) and some may lose their jobs?" Dee said.

He said the PCCI was surprised when the House fast-tracked the passage of the bill because representatives have been attending committee hearings on the proposed measure.

The PCCI will meet with the senators this week to discuss their concerns over the bill, Dee said, adding that he hopes "we can get a majority. We will also start consultations so we can initially jumpstart the discussion of tripartite (wage boards)."

On the other hand, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz told lawmakers yesterday that workers should be given a P300 daily wage hike instead of P125 on a three-year installment.

"I invite lawmakers to make that miserable wage increase for themselves, also in three batches. Let us see how they would feel... It is very small," he said, noting that if an ordinary worker received P125 more every day, it would still not be enough to live a comfortable life. The current minimum wage is P375.

Cruz said there are questions as to why legislators did not draft a higher salary increase for workers or why they had such a hard time passing the bill, when it was reported that they hardly debated on the passage of their priority development assistance fund that amounted to over P7 billion.

Business groups warned that the legislated wage hike would force small- and medium-scale enterprises to close down, but Cruz believes otherwise.

"I have long been told that businesses lose much when there is a wage increase but up to now, the business corporations make money," he said. — With Aurea Calica, Pia Lee-Brago, Evelyn Macairan