Bello wants wage adjustments by July

LABOR SECRETARY Silvestre H. Bello III has urged regions deliberating on wage adjustments to fast-track this process by the “end of June” until July 15.

In an interview with reporters last Tuesday, June 19, Mr. Bello said, “Ang sabi ko sa kanila, ang wage adjustment should become effective, at least some of them, end of June, and the others na mahahabol up to July 15, magiging effective mga wage adjustment.” ( I told them wage adjustments should become effective, at least some of them, [ by] the end of June, and the others to catch up [ by] July 15.)

In an interview last Friday, Executive Director Ms. Ma. Criselda R. Sy of the National Wages and Productivity Commission said regions who’ll be issuing wage orders soon are “CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), Region III (Central Luzon), Region VI ( Western Visayas), Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), and Region XI (Davao region).”

She added that these regions “are in different stages of consultations and public hearings.”

The year-long period for the wages in effect in CAR, Central Luzon, and Zamboanga Peninsula has already lapsed. Davao Region issued its last wage order on Oct. 30, 2017, while the last wage order in Western Visayas was issued on Nov. 20, 2017.

The national inflation rate as of May is at 4.6%. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), inflation in the Davao Region, Western Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula is at 5.0%, 5.5%, and 6.1%, respectively. Inflation in CAR and Central Luzon is at 3.8% and 2.6%, respectively.

Inflation is deemed a supervening condition for adjusting wages ahead of the year-long period for wages in effect. When asked if other regions will base their adjustments on said supervening conditions, Ms. Sy said, “They are closely monitoring.”

“Some regions are still consulting,” she added. —