Actually, the correct statement would be political solutions of the Marcos Jr. administration, paid for by businesses and homeowners of the Philippines.
A new wage increase for Metro Manila will be implemented in two parts, starting with a P60 increase on July 19, 2026. Half a year later, employers and businesses will be required to fork out another P25 by Jan. 20, 2027.
The minimum wage for employees in Metro Manila will be at P780. When asked, the BSP governor replied that the increase was “unusual” and is expected to exert “significant” inflationary pressure.
Coming from a tradition of P20 to P40 wage increases, the recent increase draws suspicion that the Marcos Jr. administration is buying peace with the “employees” at the expense of business owners and employers in general.
Given that the 4Ps only meets the needs of the poorest of the poor, PBBM clearly needed to address the disgruntled employees as well as lower- to middle-class people who say they never get anything from this government.
So here you go: P85 x 26 days = P2,210 a month to be paid for by your employer. But no one is talking about withholding tax, income tax, etc. That P2,210 won’t even be enough to catch up with the 10-20 percent increase in fuel prices, food inflation, cost of electricity, etc. And it does not cover the “surprising” and “significant” inflationary pressure that the wage increase will trigger.
In other words, the wage increase is nothing but a poison pill for all of us. Adding insult to injury, the government is not worried because they are not paying for it, employers are! In fact, once the dust settles, the BIR will even have more collections from the very wage increase you received. Remember the rules on 13th month pay and bonuses?
The PBBM administration forgets that employers have to pay for PhilHealth, SSS, Pag-ibig, BIR, Meralco, water, business permits, DTI, BFP, fleet and fuel, maintenance as well as adjustments needed for inflation.
In addition to that, businesses and employers have all the “hidden costs” or costs of business such as “corruption” and delays at various government agencies, both local and national.
Alternative delivery systems such as Grab or Lalamove because of traffic, wrecked roads and floods. Alternative power sources because, unlike other countries, the Philippine government does not believe in subsidizing the cost of electricity except for 4Ps.
And because of the “unusual” and “significant” pressure on inflation, employers will find themselves in the painful and uncomfortable position of listening to employees borrowing money for operations, school fees or worse, burial fees that they otherwise will need to go to a corrupt politician for.
So, when the BSP governor reacts by saying that the P85 wage increase is “unusual” and will exert significant inflationary pressure, I can confidently presume we are doomed, especially after it was reported that the unemployment rate in the Philippines went up slightly to 4.8 percent or 2.5 million jobless Filipinos.
Last week it was also reported that the US and Iran decided to shoot at each other once again, with US President Donald Trump declaring that the peace treaty was effectively torched.
So, what happens to the Philippines now? After the peace treaty, people said our fuel supplies will take at least one to two years before normalizing. But now the war is back, does it mean that insane fuel prices will soon be back as well?
If you have ever been employed or been an employer or a business owner as I have, you probably know that there are very limited options that businesses and employers can adopt in order to survive the massive financial burden passed on by the Marcos Jr. administration.
One of the classic moves is to trim the fat, cut your costs and drive the workers hard, just like the Egyptian slave drivers in the time of Moses. The Pharaoh took away essential materials from Moses and his crew, imposed quotas written with whips and probably cut back food rations.
To do that today would be illegal but I can already see employers letting go of the non-essential, unproductive and costly employees. After doing that, they will probably redistribute the work of the retrenched among those left behind.
For efficiency, they could get “temps” for specific work, use the services of part-time or contractual workers for accounting, audits, HR, bundle their delivery requirements with other companies or, like someone I know, relocate to a cheaper building, warehouse or town.
Officials used to say that all that is just business owners trying to avoid wage increases. Not anymore! With AI, smart technology and techniques, there will be more than an “unusual” and “significant” price to pay.
Higher unemployment, lower outputs, business closures and wrecking ball inflation. All because the government wants the profits all to themselves. Profits with zero investments!
The Bible constantly reminds us that you reap what you sow. But what exactly has the government “sown” or done to support businesses and employees? Every beneficial infrastructure is built by the private sector while the government collects fees in the billions!
Every benefit we get, from social security, health insurance, retirement, even infrastructure and services, is paid for by every Filipino through taxes, charges or fees. Business owners and employees don’t get anything for free from the Philippine government.