ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Reactive, not proactive': Solon slams NWPC on lackadaisical response to wage woes

'Reactive, not proactive': Solon slams NWPC on lackadaisical response to wage woes

Published Mar 17, 2022 06:20 pm

House Committee on Labor and Employment Chairman and 1-Pacman Party-list Rep. Enrico Pineda has castigated the Department of Labor and Employment–National Wages and Productivity Commission (DOLE-NWPC), claiming that they were being reactive instead of proactive in addressing the issue of minimum wage amid the seemingly unending fuel price surge.

(Mark Balmores/ File photo/ MANILA BULLETIN)

He made this assertion during the Labor and Employment panel hearing on Thursday, March 17 which sought to institutionalize the minimum wage of private sector employees.

“What we see here is that the NWPC is not proactive at all, I think you’re more reactive. The last time that we had a wage increase was in 2018 and in 2018 the price of galunggong (round scad) was P140 , so after four years the price of galunggong has already doubled. So that alone can speak for itself that the galunggong is not the poor man’s diet.... Minimum wage earners cannot afford it anymore,” said Pineda.

Upon inquiry by Baguio Rep. Mark Go, NWPC Executive Director Criselda Sy bared that the commission received six petitions for minimum wage increases from the National Capital Region (NCR), Region 3, Region 4A, Region 6, Region 7, and Region 8.

According to Sy, the wage boards could convene either following petitions from the community, or motu proprio.

Furthermore, the NPWC was not able to put forward a recommendation for the House panel's report.

“Yung mga regional boards (Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards) po when they receive the petition immediately po nag-convene na po (When regional boards receive these petitions, they immediately convene)...And as of this time, can I just commit to those boards who met motu proprio because I do not have the information at this time, what I do have are those regions with petitions,” said Sy.

Suffice it to say that panel chairman Pineda wasn't amused.

“Hindi na dapat ay umabot sa ganitong punto na kami pa ang nagpapatawag sa inyo, dapat kayo na mismo ang gumagawa ng aksyon (It shouldn’t reach this point where we have to call on you, it should be you taking action) If you’re not doing your job we might be compelled to abolish the NWPC and maybe create another entity for that matter,” he chided Sy.

The panel then approved a motion urging the NPWC and the regional boards to present a recommendation for the proposed salary increases in each of the different regions within 30 days effective on March 17.

At present, minimum wage in the NCR stands at P537 a day. It ranges from P310 to P420 outside the metropolis.

Related Tags

31722 nwpc enrico pineda House of Representatives dole Minimum wage
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.