The Philippines, (or shall we start calling our country, the Federal Republic of Maharlika,) is the only ASEAN-member state with 16 different minimum wages across the country. It is difficult to administer since the regional tripartite wage boards are often manned by people with varying biases. Singapore, the top performing ASEAN state, with a tiny population of less than five million, has no minimum wage policy. Singapore allows the free market to govern the terms and conditions of employment. It is not only the second strongest global economy; it is also the country that pays the highest wages both in the region and the world. It has the lowest income tax rates, and the most honest government.
The only other country among the ASEAN 10 with no minimum wage law is Brunei Darussalam, but it is just a family empire of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, with a population of less than half a million, of which more than two-thirds are foreign workers. Comparing our highest minimum wage in the National Capital Region, which was US$9.79 in March of 2018, we have the following ASEAN minimum wages (in US$): Thailand, 9.36; Malaysia, 8.61; Indonesia, 8.15; Cambodia, 5.72; Vietnam, 5.50; Laos PDR, 3.65, and the tail-ender Myanmar with 3.72. We know Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are communist, and they happen to have lesser minimum wages than democracies like Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Let us then compare our regional minimum wages to other ASEAN countries. The NCR’s minimum wage of 9.79 is the highest, even exceeding those of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, whose gross domestic products and per capita incomes are much higher than that of the Philippines. The minimum wages in our country are, as follows: Region 4-A is 7.23 a little lower than Indonesia and Malaysia, and higher than Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Our wages in Central Visayas, particularly in Cebu (7.50 as of March 2018) is higher than the wages in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
The rest of the Philippine minimum wages are 5.73 for CAR, 5.93 for Region 1, 6.50 for Region 2, 7.23 for Region 3, 5.73 for Region 4-B, 5.54 for Region 5, 6.18 for Region 6, 5.45 for Region 8, 5.66 for Region 9, 6.46 for Region 10, 6.50 for Region 11, 5.64 for Region 12, 5.73 for Region 13, and 5.07 for ARMM, the lowest in the whole country, but still higher than Laos and Myanmar.
We reserve our comments for lack of space. All we can say is that the workers always say that the wages are too low, while the employers always complain that they are too high. The role of government is to find a viable balance that can protect the poor while preserving the competitiveness of the Philippine economy. Labor, capital and government are all in the same boat. They have to agree on a modus vivendi. They either float together or sink together.