Workers to get bonus aside from 13th-month pay - ECOP

MANILA, Philippines - Employees will be receiving their bonus on top of their 13th month pay this year as local firms report full recovery from the global financial crisis, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said.

“Yes there will be a holiday pay for workers,” ECOP president Sergio Ortiz Luis told The Star in a telephone interview over the weekend.

According to Ortiz-Luis, it will be a happy Christmas for employees because they will be receiving their bonuses aside from the mandated 13th month pay. In fact, he noted that there are some firms who have already distributed their bonuses as early as this month.

“It has been a normal year. Last year was supposed to be bad but the firms have fully recovered,” Ortiz-Luis said.

At the same time, supermarket owners said they are heeding the call of the government to not take advantage of the lifting of the price freeze saying that they will try to tone down price increases for basic and prime commodities until after Christmas.

“For the sake of those affected by the typhoons that hit our country, we will try to do our best to control increases until after Christmas,” Federico Ples, secretary general of the Philippine Association of Supermarkets Inc. said.

According to Ples, they expect price increase in refined sugar, canned goods and meat items. Ples explained that the government-declared standard retail price (SRP) for these products during the period of price control were too low.

With regards to refined sugar, Ples said that the SRP was at P38 per kilo but manufacturers complained that their cost is at P41 per kilo. “Maybe they will deliver, depending on the wholesaler, at P42 per kilo or P42.50 and we will add P.50 per kilo,” he said

Weeks ago, there was a shortage in the supply of refined sugar in supermarkets as manufacturers refused to deliver at the SRP. Ples said that they expect the shortage to be corrected in the coming days as the price was adjusted to acceptable levels to manufacturers.

The price of sardines, corned beef and other canned meat on the other hand might go up by three percent to five percent. “They cannot price these products too high also because of keen competition,” Ples noted.

Ples said that supermarkets will do their best not to increase their prices especially with the holiday season. “We have already reduced our margin to only three percent to five percent net.”