Increasing food production to bring down inflation, not wage increases is what is needed now, a Negros business leader said Tuesday, May 2.
Frank Carbon, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer, said
increasing wages now will worsen inflation as it will lead to businesses raising the prices of their goods.
The wage increase will benefit workers in the formal sector, but those in the informal sector who form almost half of the labor force will not benefit from it and will suffer more from the increase in the prices of goods.
Increasing wages will also send a negative signal to both domestic and foreign investors, Carbon added.
Existing businesses will also not expand because higher wages will be beyond their reach, he added.
The Philippines has among the highest wages and electricity rates in Asia that is why there are few investors, Carbon said.
More investments are needed in rural areas to increase food production to bring down inflation, he said.
Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia prioritized their agriculture sector that is why they are now exporting rice and sugar, while the Philippines is still importing, Carbon said.
Government should transfer its investments from urban to rural areas for food production and processing, Carbon said.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said we should not increase wages now, what is important is that people have jobs.
He does not believe that a wage increase will correct inflation, Lacson said.
“There are other ways to address inflation, and not by increasing salaries to catch up with the prices of goods, Lacson said.
Asked for his reaction on the call of labor for a P750 wage hike, Lacson said “patay kita sina (we will die with that)”.*