CEBU CITY—A labor group on Monday filed a petition for a P430-increase in the daily minimum wage in Central Visayas.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) filed the wage hike petition before the Cebu City-based Regional Wages and Productivity Board-Central Visayas (RTWPB-7).
Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, president of TUCP, said it has been two years since the last wage hike petition was filed and that increasing the current P404 minimum wage in Central Visayas to P834 is necessary.
“Duha na ka tuig naungot ang sweldo. Unya ga sige ug saka ang presyo... Kinsay di ganahan ug umento (It’s been two years since the current minimum wage stayed at P404. Prices have been increasing, everyone would want a wage increase),” Mendoza said in a press briefing before they filed the petition.
TUCP said the series of fuel price hikes is just one of the many factors that prompted them to file the petition.
Eva Arcos, TUCP Vice President, said the current minimum wage has become “unsustainable” because of the rising inflation and the effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and last December’s typhoon Odette.
Arcos added that the current daily minimum wage in Region 7 is already below the poverty threshold, which is used to gauge if the workers’ take home pay is sufficient to pay basic needs.
Based on the data presented by TUCP, poverty threshold in the region shows that a family of five must earn at least P16,295 in a month to survive but workers can only take home as much as P10,504 based on the current daily minimum wage of P404.
“The poverty threshold in Central Visayas is not far from Metro Manila. We need to give our workers decent wages,” said Arcos.
TUCP added that workers will have to budget at least P15 per meal in a day if the present P404 daily minimum wage rate will not be updated.
“With the current minimum wage in Region 7, a measly P15 per meal can be allocated per member of the family which is P41.17 lower compared to the P61.17 per meal per person estimated by the Ateneo Policy Center using the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology Pinggang Pinoy mode,” said Mendoza.
“Do our workers deserve just to eat nutritionally deficient foods while they continue breaking their backs to sustain and expand the economy?” added Mendoza.
After filing the petition, TUCP will be holding a public consultation at the RTWPB-7 on Tuesday, March 22.
“Mao na karon, muhangyo ta na magtinabangay ta. Importante ang role sa gobyerno, importante ang role sa kapitalista (That’s why now, we will appeal that we should help each other. The role of the government is important, the role of the capitalist is important),” said Mendoza.