Mindanao Laborers Unlikely To Get P25 Daily Wage Hike

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 02 Jul) Laborers in Zamboanga Peninsula and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are likely to receive new wage increase next month following the petition filed earlier by national labor groups.

However, government labor officials here said the wage increase will be lower than the P25 the National Capital Region's Wage Board has set earlier.

Regional labor officials said employers cannot afford the P25 wage increase. Instead, they pressed for a lower wage hike.

"Employers in Zamboanga Peninsula are looking into the possibility in giving an increase ranging from P 10 to P 15, but not P25 as this may hamper the growth of the business establishments in the region," Chita Cilindro, the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment in Western Mindanao, told the Zamboanga Journal.

Jose Batausa, president of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also noted that the current rate of wage increase is too high and may not be applicable in Zamboanga City as well as in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula.

"I doubt employers of this city can give a daily increase of P25. The cost of living in Manila is different from here. The effect is that majority of the employers here will reduce its existing numbers of employees just to comply with this year's wage hike," he said.

Jann Jakilan, the ARMM Labor Secretary, said businessmen of the Muslim autonomous region have not yet set any figures for wage increase.

He said employers are expecting a wage adjustment that is acceptable to both parties."Employers and the labor groups of the region are yet to discuss next month. However, I don't think businessmen will buy the idea of a P25 wage increase in our area," he said.

Datu Harun Bandila, president of the ARMM Business Council, said employers could only accommodate an increasefrom P5 to P10. However, he said, traders are also looking at implementing non-wage benefits, such as free meals and transportation to the laborers.

The current minimum wage in Zamboanga Peninsula is P200 for non-agricultural workers and P175 agricultural workers and these include the cost of living allowance or cola.

In ARMM, daily take-home pay ranges from P150 to P175, from agricultural workers to non-agricultural workers.

Both employers and laborers in the Bangsamoro region is scheduled to have a public hearing on wage hike on July 16, while Zamboanga City is scheduled to discuss this on July 6. Cilindro said the tripartite wage board has until July 14 to determine the wage increase rate in Western Mindanao.