No wage increase in C. Luzon, just livelihood grants

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – With no minimum wage hike to announce on Labor Day yesterday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Luzon instead awarded P6.8 million in livelihood grants to 5,464 groups and individuals in the region.

DOLE regional information officer Jerry Borja said the recipients included union members, ambulant vendors, women’s groups, graduates of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and persons with disabilities.

The P6.8 million was granted in the form of the so-called Negosyo sa Kariton (Nego-Kart), Kabuhayan Starter Kits and Workers Income Augmentation (WIN-AP) programs.

Borja said each Nego-Kart beneficiary received a vending cart, livelihood tools, and raw materials worth P10,000.

The starter kits, on the other hand, contained tools and materials that will allow the recipients to engage in various roving businesses such as massage, plumbing, cosmetology, appliance repair, upholstery, rag making, embutido making, hairdressing, and manicure and pedicure. The beneficiaries will also be trained in entrepreneurship and business management, Borja said.

Local governments will provide counterpart assistance in the form of additional tools and training and initial payment for Social Security System and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) premiums, Borja said.

Borja added: “WIN-AP not only benefits the union members financially through dividend-sharing but it likewise provides employment to their relatives and easy affordable payment schemes in the form of salary deduction.”

Meanwhile, labor groups in Southern Mindanao are not satisfied with the P10 increase in their cost of living allowance (COLA) which the regional wage board ordered implemented starting yesterday.

The P10 COLA increase was actually included in the wage order issued last December that granted P15 COLA, P5 of which was carried out last January and the remaining P10 yesterday.

Romualdo Basilio, regional chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, said, “The P10 COLA is just to appease the workers but what is really important is for a P125 across-the-board wage increase.”

In Bicol, militant labor groups marked Labor Day with rallies in Legazpi City yesterday, carrying more protest placards than last year’s.

Felix Pas, president of the 2.2-million strong Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bicol, said the display of more placards only reflects wider discontent among laborers.

“In fact we cannot compare which of the Arroyo and Aquino administrations is better because they are just both worse, beholden to the dictates of the United States,” Pas said in Filipino. – With Edith Regalado, Cet Dematera, Roel Pareño, Ric Sapnu, Eva Visperas