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A group of nurses has called on the government to give the country’s healthcare workers better working conditions and salary.

The factory owner who paid his worker’s salary in centavos has tested positive for COVID-19 at a time when his company is expected to comply with various business operations violations, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian said Thursday.

The Valenzuela City government has extended assistance to former employees of NexGreen Enterprise, the factory that paid one of its workers’ salary in coins, following the latter’s business permit suspension.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is also investigating the case of the Valenzuela City factory worker whose salary was paid to him in centavo coins by his company.

Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian on Wednesday suspended the business permit of Nexgreen Enterprise, the factory that paid one of its workers’ salary in coins, after its owner admitted not paying their employees appropriately.

Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian is inclined to believe that what happened to the factory worker who received his P1,056 salary in coins was done deliberately to “torment” the worker for raising his concerns against his company’s alleged unfair labor practices.

Can an employer pay their employees’ salaries purely in coins? Under Circular No. 537 Series of 2006 issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), payment, particularly in the form of coins, shall be “legal tender” or must be accepted for as long as it does not exceed a certain limit. For P1 to P5 denominations, they must not exceed P1,000 while 1, 5, 10 or 25 cents must not exceed P100 in total. Several social media users pointed this out, citing the circular from the BSP, after the report about a Valenzuela City worker who received his salary in coins worth P1,056, mostly in 5-cent and 25-cent and one-peso denominations, made the rounds Monday. Some even said the action done by the worker’s employer was illegal, although the local government of Valenzuela and the concerned factory worker in the incident have not done yet a complete inventory of the coins, so the legality of the incident cannot be said yet. But the factory worker believed the action was done “intentionally” as a form of “retribution” of the company against him for complaining about alleged unfair labor practices they experienced, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said.

The Department of Education (DepEd) aims to implement twice a month release of salary for public school teachers and other personnel by downloading the payroll processing to Schools Division Offices (SDOs).

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III blasted private hospitals in the Philippines on Monday, June 7 for supposedly driving away home-grown nurses to countries abroad because of their “exploitative” practices.

Uploan raises $15 million to uplift and safeguard Filipino women

Public school teachers are scheduled to receive salary increases until the year 2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

After implementing salary cuts last year, employers in the Philippines are projecting slight pay hikes this year to average 5.6 percent, signaling economic optimism for 2021, according to a salary budget planning survey report. 

“If you believe in your own lies and I really violated something, sue me.”