At no time in recent history when an act of Congress has sparked a swift reaction from business than Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri’s bill of an across-the-board wage increase of employees in the private sector.  Led by ECOP, PCCI , and Philexport, eight business groups including the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill. “Raising wages,” says ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr., “may appear to be the easier and logical solution. However, only a small percentage of the total work force, or about 8 million in the formal sector out of the 50 million of the total number of Filipino workers, will be able to benefit from the proposal.” It was also noted that the rising inflation rate impacted the micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs) that suffered the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic many of which may still be closed. MSMEs comprise 98% of businesses in the country. The stand of the business group found support from the head of PBBM’s economic team, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno who bucked the proposed law. Senate bill 2002, the business group averred, would only be beneficial to a happy few. An “even grimmer scenario” would be faced by the informal sector which represents 84% of the toral workforce. This 42 million comprising of farmers, market vendors, jeepney and tricycle drivers and home-based entrepreneurs might even start trooping to government offices to ask for ‘ayuda.’ TUCP’s VP Luis Corral charged the employers and the economic managers of PBMM of “ganging up in an overkill on the poor workers’ call for salary hikes. He dismissed it as a “camouflage to benefit big employers as there is enough support available for MSMEs, including the increase in consumption that comes from the wage increase.” With due respect to my good friend, Louie Corral, that is a simplistic view of the increase of an across-the-board increase. One has to look at the macro effect of the unwarranted increase. Aside from increasing the inflation rate, discouraging foreign direct investment where we are lowest in ASEAN region compared with Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, the proposed wage increase, taking a cue from a similar aborted attempt about more than a decade ago, would affect negatively our GDP by around 4% as economists then predicted. Perhaps, it might help our honorable legislators in this convoluted issue, if we trace the historical background of the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989. President Cory Aquino continued President Marcos’ practice of giving minimum wage increase every May 1 Labor Day. As Corporate Secretary then of ECOP, I called the attention of the board that this practice must be stopped. “Can we not celebrate Labor Day by honoring our social partners in other many ways than increasing their wages? Marcos had a reason for that. Because the right of workers to strike was curtailed, he had to give this wage increase every May 1 to placate (palubag luob)  the trade unions,” I said. A month before May 1, then Secretary Ople always calls for a tripartite meeting where wage increase was the only agenda. As always, there was no consensus reached on the amount of increase. The issue was tossed back to Secretary Ople to decide and submit it to the President. I argued, “why follow this ‘dog and pony show’ when workers’ rights are already restored? In fact, strikes are back with a vengeance as workers regained their long-lost freedom for concerted actions.” Ople, with his penchant for big words, called that phenomenon “lawless interregnum.” The late Chairman Aurelio Periquet and the board were convinced of my plea. So, when we were summoned to Malacanang after Pres. Cory’’s meeting with the labor leaders, our answer when we were asked by the President if we agree to an increase of wages was negative. To the discomfiture of the late Aureling Periquet, who was very close to President Cory, everyone of us when approached one by one said “no.” “Wala man lang ni isa sa inyo ay papayag?”, President Cory remarked sadly. The President walked out on us in disgust. Cooler heads prevailed and we were called again the next day for another meeting with the President this time in the presence not only of DOLE Secretary Franklin Drilon with NEDA Director General and Planning Secretary Solita Monsod, Senator Ernesto Herrera and Congressman Alberto Veloso, chairs of the labor relations committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively. The two legislators, supported by Secretaries Drilon and Monsod, asked us to agree for Congress to pass the wage increase for the last time and thenceforth wage fixing will be relinquished to the regional wage boards composed of two representatives of labor and employer, with the Regional DOLE Director as Chair, and the Regional NEDA and DTI directors as Vice Chairs. The last two were added to ensure a balanced view of the macro-economic effects of a minimum wage increase. We agreed. Congress enacted for the last time the nationwide minimum wage increase which President Cory approved into a law. Thus, R. A. 6727, otherwise known as Wage Rationalization Act was born in July of 1989. It rationalized wage fixing as indeed it does not make sense to give the same amount of minimum wage increase to all regions when the cost of living in Metro Manila, for example, is much higher than that of the region in Sulu or Samar. The law declares as its policy of promoting productivity improvement and provides ten (10) criteria for RTWPBs to consider in wage fixing which includes, among others, consumer price index, cost of living increase and capacity of employers to pay. In light of this historical background, should the present Congress respect the commitment of their predecessors? Maybe, not. But will they not, if they wouldn’t, be unwittingly indulging in anachronism for the sake of political expediency? We leave it to the conscience and sense of reason of our populist legislators. \*\*\*\* *Ranulfo P. Payos is the executive vice-president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines.*