Palace to monitor ARMM poll postponement bill

When Congress resumes session on Monday, Malacañang will keep an eye on the progress of a priority measure seeking to postpone elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. But lawmakers will also be under pressure from militant workers to tackle a bill providing a so-called “substantial" wage hike for workers. “Sa ARMM siguro ang isa nating titingnan (at) babantayan nang mabuti ano ang progreso ng [postponement bill] sa pagbukas ng session sa Kongreso," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said on government-run dzRB radio Saturday. Both houses of Congress will resume session on May 9. Malacañang is moving to reset the date of the ARMM elections from Aug. 8 this year to May 2013. The bill for the postponement of the ARMM election was one of 23 priority measures the Palace submitted to legislators at the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting earlier this year. While the House of Representatives had passed the ARMM polls bill, it will have to go through the Senate. Valte said the progress of other priority bills in Congress had been smooth. “From the list of priority measures na isinubmit natin sa LEDAC maganda ang progress," she said. Wage hike bill Meanwhile, a militant umbrella group is urging lawmakers to tackle soonest a bill providing a “substantial" wage hike for workers. The Kilusang Mayo Uno particularly directed its challenge at the House of Representatives Labor Committee chaired by Rep. Emil Ong, even as it and a militant think tank rejected employers’ proposal of a P13.35 wage hike. “We challenge Rep. Emil Ong, chairman of the HOR Labor Committee to take up House Bill 375 now. The Filipino workers and people are clamoring for a significant wage hike as an immediate relief from the rising prices of basic goods and services, especially petroleum products," KMU chairman Elmer Labog said in an article on the KMU website. Labog noted that in the Senate, Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. had sought a significant wage hike and filed Senate Bill 1981. Thus, he said, it is a challenge for Ong and the House labor committee “to speak up and support the workers’ call for a significant wage hike." House Bill 375, which seeks to legislate a P125 across-the-board wage increase nationwide, was the brainchild of Anakpawis party list Rep. Rafael Mariano. “Only a P125 legislated across-the-board wage hike will give the Filipino workers and people an immediate relief for our suffering. We hope the Labor Committee will conduct hearings on the measure as soon as Congress resumes," Labog said. The KMU noted Mariano’s bill had been elevated to third and final reading in the 13th Congress but was shelved later. But it said the bill was shelved amid employers’ claims that such a wage hike may cause massive lay-offs and inflation. Also, the KMU cited data from militant think-tank IBON Foundation that a P125 wage hike will only amount to a 15-percent reduction in the aggregate profits of businesses as shown by government data. P13 wage hike not enough A P13.35 wage hike proposed by employers is not enough for workers to make ends meet as it would have been watered down substantially by inflation, a militant think tank said over the weekend. IBON Foundation said the amount is not even enough to restore the real wage to its June 2010 level, even as inflation has eroded the minimum wage in Metro Manila to just P234.90. “Inflation has averaged some 3.7 percent since July 2010, reaching 4.5 percent in April 2011, bringing down the real value of the mandated wage by P10.50 since the start of the Aquino administration. This has brought down the current minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) of P404 to just P234.90 in real terms as of April 2011, measured in 2000 prices," IBON said. Thus, it said an increase of P18.50 will merely restore the value of the minimum wage to its real value of P243.50 upon the start of the Aquino administration. Earlier, the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said it cannot afford to grant a minimum wage increase of more than P13.35. On the other hand, IBON said a wage hike of P125 as demanded by militant labor groups would bring the minimum wage to its “highest ever real value." It said the P125 is just a 15-percent cut in the profits of employers with 20 or more workers. “If ever, this would also be the first indication that there is any change taking place under the Aquino administration," it said. Still, the group admitted a P125 wage hike would raise the real value of the minimum wage to P304.90 - still not enough to give a worker’s family a decent standard of living. “But (it) will at least provide them much-needed respite from skyrocketing prices," it said. KMU dares employers to join protests vs oil price hikes As KMU rejected the prospect of a “meager" P13.25 daily wage hike, it dared employers last Thursday to join the workers in fighting fuel price hikes instead of pressing down workers’ wages. The group was referring to the claim of the ECOP that it can afford only a P13.35 wage hike for workers as they are also feeling the pinch of rising oil prices. Labog said the KMU “believes" employers’ complaints about high energy costs, but not their claims that they can give only a “meager" wage hike. “We do not believe employers, however, when they claim that they can only give workers a meager wage hike because of increasing fuel prices in the country. Even with the oil price hikes, capitalists have earned substantial profits over the years. They should fight the increasing prices of basic goods and services and still grant workers a significant wage hike," he said. The KMU also criticized the ECOP for using the 400 Japanese companies in the Southern Tagalog region now laying off workers to illustrate the difficult situation that capitalists in the country face. “We know for a fact that these Japanese companies are facing business troubles due to the triple whammy of tragedies in Japan and not the supposedly high wages being received by the Filipino workers. We condemn ECOP for exploiting the situation of Japanese companies to continue trying to blackmail workers into accepting the current starvation wages," Labog said. — LBG, GMA News