Wage hikes means more adjustments, says ECOP

Ortiz-Luis urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to continuously formulate ways of ‘inclusive’ solutions to economic problems

The Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines said that wage hikes being requested by some labor groups amid the soaring prices of commodities would also mean higher operational costs to almost 99 percent of job providers, which are the micro, small and medium enterprises.

In a radio interview, ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said if MSME owners will be forced to raise their employees’ salaries, it would mean obligatory additional operational and services costs, which will also make the prices of their products soar, adding more burden to consumers.

“Wage hikes benefit only those in the formal labor sector, which make up only about 10 percent of the 50 million-strong labor force. MSMEs cannot shoulder any more raising the wages of their people,” Ortiz-Luis said.

An MSME in the Philippines is defined as any business activity or enterprise engaged in industry, agri-business and/ or services that has an asset size of up to P100 million; and an employment size with less than 200 employees.

With this, Ortiz-Luis urged President Ferdinand Marcos

Jr. to continuously formulate ways of “inclusive” solutions to economic problems but said his group is content with the President’s current plans, particularly enticing more foreign investments by means of visiting other countries.

“The government is right in looking for more foreign investors because, at the end of the day, it will translate to jobs for more Filipinos. It’s also right to give more aid to the most vulnerable or those that are indeed suffering. They are the ones that are left behind,” Ortiz-Luis said.

The consumer price index for October 2022 surged to 7.7 percent, from 6.9 percent in September, the highest since December 2008 during the global financial crisis, when it hit 7.8 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The PSA data also said that as of September, there were 7.33 million Filipinos that are looking for extra income as of September 2022, higher than the 7.03 million posted in August 2022.

Most commodities in wet markets have doubled the price, including pork, chicken, fish, and vegetables, while some basic necessities and prime commodities in supermarkets have already raised their prices up to 13 percent.