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Bohol
bizmen to huddle P17 daily wage increase
By:
KIT BAGAIPO
Businessmen
here will meet on Thursday regarding the implementation of the newly approved
P17 increase in minimum wage.
The
Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) will discuss the new wage increase
to be implemented this June, as recommended by the Regional Tripartite Wages and
Productivity Board in Central Visayas.
The
increase will raise the basic daily pay in Tagbilaran City and the province from
P220 to P237. In November last year, the regional wage board approved a P5 increase
for Bohol and other provinces in the Visayas.
BCCI
president Norris Oculam told the Chronicle that the demand from the labor sector
for a wage increase is legitimate.
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He said the increased
daily wage can help workers cope with soaring prices of basic goods and services,
especially rice and gas.
However,
Oculam explained that it is not only workers who are affected with the present
situation.
The
question on whether businesses here can absorb the wage hike will be a key issue
on Thursday's BCCI meeting, according to Oculam.
"There
are industries that could afford giving the P17 increase, such as those engaged
in tourism," he said. | Companies
such as those in the exporting business and labor-intensive establishments such
as supermarkets may not be able to afford the wage hike, Oculam pointed out.
Some
businesses may have to lay-off workers, according to Oculam, due to the high cost
of labor.
Legislation
on non-wage benefits to workers, he added, can also help alleviate the difficult
situation of workers.
Oculam
said tax exemptions or adjustments for earners belonging to the low-income bracket
should also be pursued by the government.
Other
incentive-driven measures from businesses such as profit-sharing schemes may also
be proposed, he said.
Until
BCCI could meet on Thursday, Oculam said they business sector here do not have
an official stand on the P17 wage increase.
The
Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas issued Wage
Order No. 14 last week setting the P17 pay hike. | 
