The Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on Thursday said House lawmakers disregarded President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s position to find the right balance between the interests of companies and the labor sector when they passed the P200 per day wage hike bill on Wednesday.
In an interview, ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said it was exactly in his desire to determine a fair wage increase amount. On Labor Day (May 1), President Marcos ordered the country’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to convene and get to work right away.
Ortiz maintained that raising workers’ pay by P200 per day is simply impossible for most micro and small businesses in the Philippines.
“Any economist will tell you it (P200 daily wage hike) is stupid… You are politicizing the wage… making it an emotional issue. It’s nice to hear, but many will suffer,” Ortiz-Luis told the Manila Standard.
The ECOP president further pointed out that lawmakers placed the President “in a bad position” when they approved that measure. Ortiz-Luis cited how the Senate approved a similar but more conservative measure last February 19, 2024.
Senate Bill No. 2534, which called for a P100 increase in the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector nationwide, was unanimously approved by the upper chamber.
However, that too did not get the Mr. Marcos’ backing because he realized that many companies could not afford the amount, Ortiz-Luis noted.
The business leader expressed confidence that the President would exercise his veto powers on the measure if somehow, the legislated wage hike bill where to reach his desk.
Ortiz-Luis reiterated ECOP’s traditional position that forced wage hikes would only benefit up to 16 percent of the country’s labor force, particularly those in the formal sector, while leaving the vast majority dealing with its inflationary effects.
He also explained that a P200 a day wage hike would cause major wage distortion, forcing companies to hike wages across the board, which they likely cannot afford.
“Many [businesses] will lay off workers or close down. Meanwhile, those in the informal sector, the farmers, fishermen and those running small family businesses will not receive a boost in their incomes,” Ortiz-Luis said in Filipino.
