Calabarzon workers slam paltry wage hike

MANILA, Philippines — The salary increase for minimum wage earners in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), is just a “loose change”amid rising inflation, according to the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

”It will only be wiped out by rising cost of living, Dennis Sequena, PM coordinator for Cavite, said yesterday.

The regional wage board recently granted pay hikes ranging from P14 to P21.50 for minimum wage earners.

“From 2.9 percent last December, inflation has steadily risen to 4.3 percent this March...The wage hike….. will not redound to any real wage improvement,” Sequena said.

PM had earlier opposed the two-tiered wage system in Calabarzon, saying it is an instrument for “cheapening wages.”

“In the two-tiered system, the minimum wage is just a floor wage that will be supplemented by productivity-based increases,” Sequena said.

He noted that companies in the Cavite ecozone do not provide incentives despite a steady increase in labor productivity.

The new wage order, which was published in The Philippine Star last April 13, took effect yesterday.