The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday, February 16, reiterated its opposition to a proposed bill pushing for a P100 increase in the daily wages of private employees in the country, warning that it would be a disaster especially for small and micro enterprises.
Senate Bill (SB) No. 2534 or “An Act Providing for a P100 Pesos Daily Minimum Wage Increase for Employees and Workers in the Private Sector,” sponsored by Senator Jinggoy Estrada seeks to cover employees in the private sector in the country, whether agricultural or non-agricultural.
The Senate approved the bill on second reading on Wednesday.
MBCCI Chief Executive Officer Frank Carbon told DIGICAST NEGROS that the proposed bill will not benefit the intended workers and will not solve the problem of rising food prices.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, of which MBCCI is a member, has also aired its opposition together with other business groups in the country, and instead called for a comprehensive approach and policies to address economic inequality in the country.
Carbon said that the P100 add-on to the daily wage of private employees will just be passed on to the goods and services of businesses whose prices will increase.
With almost 90 percent of the businesses in the country belonging to the informal sector, they will be the most vulnerable to the impacts of this proposal, he added.
“Legislated wages, while hurting especially micro, small, and medium enterprises, will worsen the plight of the informal sector and its overwhelming 47-million strong presence in the workforce and contribution to the economy,” the statement from PCCI also said.
Carbon urged the government to address the high food inflation rate in the country by boosting the productivity of the farmers to reduce reliance on food imports.*