Labor disappointed

If President Aquino had wanted, he could have ordered the Regional Wage Board of Metro Manila to decide the salary increase for NCR workers by May 1. It certainly looks like he had listened to employer groups who are also members of the Makati Business Club who are opposed to any minimum wage increase. All he announced on May 1 is that he had ordered the Regional Wage Board to speed up (paspasan) its decision.

But if you go by the track records of the NCR Regional Wage Board, any increase will be P30 a day or less which will not even be enough to pay for the increase of transportation fares and the increase in the price of rice, bread and LPG. Labor groups are asking for a P125/day minimum wage across the board increase. The only reasonable compromise is to meet that halfway at P62.60. The present minimum wage of P404 is not even half of the P947 estimated by DOLE as a living wage for Metro Manila workers. Ninety percent of businesses are registering profits. They can afford it. For the 10 percent who cannot afford them, then exempt them.

As far as the promise to government workers to implement the 3rd tranche of the salary standardization scale, that is provided by law. It is not something new or additional. It was advanced by one month.

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CAREFUL. . Merceditas Gutierrez’ appointment was criticized from the very beginning because as a classmate of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and Presidential Legal Counsel, she was wildly perceived as one who will protect GMA and her people from charges filed at the Ombudsman.

President Aquino must therefore, be careful to select an independent, respected person as her successor, not one who will be partisan or be considered a lackey of the President.

To begin with, the new Ombudsman should not be a card carrying member of the Liberal Party, but one with the highest qualification.

Among the possibilities could be the top ten senior Justices of the Court of Appeals; DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima; Senator Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights; Congressman Simeon Datumanong, former Secretary of Justice; the Deans of the colleges of Law of leading universities; Justice Magdangal Elma, former Presidential Legal Counsel; Gilbert Teodoro, former Secretary of National Defense, No. 1 Bar topnotcher and Harvard Master of Law graduate and Victor Ortega, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments.

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GOVERNMENT OF SUBSIDIES. . President Aquino announced a P4.23 billion rice subsidy program and P2 billion for farm implements for small farmers and fishermen.

Earlier, P21.2 billion was allocated for the Conditional Cash Transfer program, amounting to P500-P1,300 a month for 2.3 million families and P450 million Pantawid Pasada program for jeepney drivers and tricycle drivers.

The subsidies are a partial protection to the problem of poverty and high prices. It will not cover all families who need help.

As Professor Leonor Magtolis Briones said “there is no exit strategy for these programs which can not be sustained indefinitely”.

A wholesale subsidy program is not going to create jobs and is subject to corruption.

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AUDIT OTHERS, TOO. . DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has announced that COA has started a special audit of the P1.2 billion OWWA funds. That’s a welcome step.

There are bigger funds that need to be audited too, namely, the P60 billion Road Users Tax Fund, the P50 billion Malampaya Royalty Fund, the P50 billion Pagcor income and the P35 billion pork barrel fund. Also needing special audit are DBP, GSIS and SSS funds.

It is also appropriate that AFP intelligence funds will now be closely audited. The same policy should now be applied to Pagcor which heretofore, was a sacred cow protected by GMA and FG.

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MALACAÑANG SHUFFLE. . Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Jose Amor Amorado has resigned from his post. He follows the resignation of Justice Magdangal Elma, a respected legal expert.

Appointed Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs is Michael Aguinaldo, Ateneo Law ’94 graduate.

Former Bureau of Immigration OIC Ronald Ledesma used to claim that his actions were backed up by Amorado.

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NO ONE IS SAFE. . The sad state of peace and order in Metro Manila is once again demonstrated by two crimes the last week:

First, a gang of ten teenagers gatecrashed a wedding reception in Payatas, QC, robbed the guests and shot Reynaldo Andres Sr., the father of the groom, Reynaldo Jr. The father was shot when he tried to defend his daughter-in-law Angelita when the robbers grabbed her cellphone. Once again, we ask why is it so easy even for kids to have guns? The second crime is the murder of Calbayog Mayor Reynaldo Uy while praying at the start of the fiesta program in Hinabangan, Samar.

Two armed men held up the McDonalds branch at T.M. Kalaw, Ermita, Manila. Sheena Money Exchange, a money changer in Ermita was robbed of P1 million by four armed men who shouted they were policemen.

PO3 Ferdinand Eugenio, 47, who was moonlighting as a jeepney driver was shot dead while sitting inside his jeepney in Barangay Bahay Toro, Quezon City. It is sad to note that honest policemen have to moonlight as jeepney drivers.

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TIDBITS. . . UP Professor Clarita Carlos has raised the question why does she have to be mandatorily retired at 65 after 44 years of teaching? She points out that the 65 retirement age was adopted in 1889 when the average life expectancy was 37. Today it is 65.

She is absolutely correct. The retirement age must now be raised to at least 70-75, to retain in the public service persons who have acquired so much knowledge and experience. This would be especially desirable for those in the judiciary and teachers.