Trade chief bucks P125 wage hike proposal

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez warned Friday that implementing the proposed P125 across-the-board wage increase might only drag down local economic growth and bloat inflation and unemployment figures—much to the disadvantage of Filipino workers.

Citing data and estimates made by the National Economic and Development Authority, Lopez pointed out that the proposed wage adjustment might pull down the gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 1 percentage point to 5.5 to 6.5 percent, from a baseline of 6.5 to 7.5 percent.

Unemployment rate may likewise increase by 1.2 percentage points to 7.3 percent from 6.1 percent.

“Overall, the picture doesn’t look good because it will also (raise) inflation numbers and when the prices and costs increase, companies may cut back on some (of their expenses), including jobs. So based on these projections, it doesn’t look (good) that even Neda doesn’t support the wage hike. We (at the Department of Trade and Industry) will not support it as well,” Lopez explained.

Currently, the minimum daily wage in Metro Manila is P491, which some quarters believed would not be enough to provide for a decent living.

There were, however, other measures being looked into to improve the plight of workers. Amy R. Remo