EMPLOYERS CONFEDERATION of the Philippines (ECOP) President Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said that businesses are in no position to raise wages during the ongoing crisis.
“I think we have to remember that 90% of our establishments are micro, 8% are small, 1% is medium, and less than 1% is large,” he told BusinessWorld by telephone.
“Those that medium or large, they are probably giving more than what people are asking them to do. Our problem is the 90% which are the micro, there is no way they can absorb an increase now,” he added.
He said that even without a wage hike, many micro enterprises have already shut down, while others have shelved expansion plans.
“The economic managers know the situation — hindi kaya talaga. Maraming mawawalan ng trabaho at maraming mapeperwisyo (It can’t be done — many will lose their jobs, and it will make lives difficult,” he said.
Instead of raising wages, he said that the government should focus on curbing rising commodity prices.
“That is why we are saying that the government should solve this by removing taxes instead of giving away subsidies,” he said.
“We sympathize dahil alam naming mahirap ang buhay ngayon, pero lalong hihirap ang buhay pag ginawa mo iyon (We know life is hard, but life will be harder if wages are increased),” he added.
A legislated wage hike of P200 is gathering support due to the Middle East crisis, which is driving prices higher.
The government has declared a one-year national energy emergency, suspending excise taxes on kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas, and rolling out subsidies to cushion the impact on consumers.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday said inflation likely settled between 5.6% and 6.4% in April, picking up from the 1.4% clip a year earlier and the 4.1% posted in March.
If the forecast is realized, April would mark the second straight month of inflation breaching the BSP’s 2-4% target.
The central bank said last week that it now expects inflation to average 6.3% this year. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
