Metro wage board approves P22 ECOLA hike

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment reported yesterday that the regional wage board of Metro Manila had approved an additional P22 daily emergency cost-of-living allowance (ECOLA).

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the wage board in the National Capital Region (NCR), after “intense” deliberation, approved the granting of additional P22 ECOLA for minimum wage earners in the region.

Baldoz said the additional P22 ECOLA would bring to P426 the daily minimum wage of workers in the region from the current P404.

Baldoz said although the board did not grant an increase in basic pay, the additional allowance would help workers mitigate the continuing increase in prices of essential commodities.

Baldoz added that the newly issued wage order would benefit not only the three million minimum wage earners in the region but also those receiving beyond the floor wage due to wage distortion.

“The board also needs to take into consideration the employers’ capacity to pay given the high fuel-related production costs, and the great majority of enterprises in the region are micro and small enterprises,” Baldoz said.

She said the granting of ECOLA would have minimum impact on inflation and at the same time guarantee that workers would be able to cope with the high prices of commodities.

Raymundo Agravante, wage board chairman, said the board opted to grant ECOLA to prevent the possible closure of commercial establishments that could hardly afford the additional cost in their operations.

“The original proposal was P20 increase in basic pay, but the board decided to grant ECOLA because it’s less costly for the employers since it is excluded in the computation of wage-related benefits such as overtime pay,” Agravante explained.

Agravante added that the board also heeded the warning of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on the possible inflationary effect of giving more than P25 increase in daily pay of workers.

“In the end the employers’ position was P2O ECOLA but we still managed to haggle P22 or a P2 allowance in anticipation of projected increase in prices of basic commodities,” Agravante explained.

Agravante said the new wage order is set to take effect on May 26, but distressed commercial establishments, those employing less than 10 workers and companies suffering from natural disasters are exempted from the order.

However, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country largest labor group, expressed dismay over the wage board’s decision to grant only ECOLA and not increase in basic pay.

“The board’s decision to give a measly P22 wage increase in the form of ECOLA is definitely not enough considering that the worst inflation is yet to come at this time,” TUCP deputy spokesman Raffy Mapalo said.

TUCP earlier filed a formal petition seeking a P75 across-the-board increase in the daily pay of all workers in the region.

Mapalo said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) just missed the important opportunity to help poor workers and raise their deteriorating standard of living.

Mapalo said TUCP would immediately file before the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) a motion seeking reconsideration of the wage board’s decision.

If the board would deny their motion for reconsideration, Mapalo said, TUCP would appeal their case before the Supreme Court.

TUCP also called on Congress to rectify the board’s erroneous and bad decision and come out with a measure that would improve the existing wage-fixing system. – With Michael Punongbayan, Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero