by Lorie Ann A. Cascaro
The Department of Labor and Employment in Region 11 was able to generate 118,937 jobs, or 139% of its target (85,350) in 2010, DOLE 11 regional director Joffrey M. Suyao told Edge Davao last Wednesday.
As to which sector or industry had the biggest number of jobs, he said, there was no segregation yet in the data of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics.
In 2010, the Philippines had 38.905 million estimated labor force, showing a meager increase of 2.7 percent over that of 2009.
In the Davao region, the labor force in 2010 was 1.835 million, 1.724 million of whom were employed; 111,000 others were underemployed, and 342,000 unemployed.
The DOLE 11 targets an additional 88,752 employments for 2011, including more than 2,000 local and overseas job vacancies in the jobs fair last May 1 at the Gaisano Mall of Davao and SM City Davao, in time for Labor Day.
New wage order
Out of 2,000 establishments in the region, 9 percent of which belong to the service sector, DOLE said, only 1,520 or 76 percent comply with basic labor laws. Meanwhile, based on the Technical Advisory Visit (TAV) of the DOLE, the top violated labor law by establishments in the region was the new wage order which, according to Suyao, may be due to employers’ lack of information.
With the new wage order, workers in all sectors or industries are supposed to earn a daily basic wage increase amounting to P21 on top of the P15 cost of living allowance (COLA) under Wage Order No. RB-XI-15. The new minimum wage of workers in non-agriculture sector is P286; in agriculture, P276; in retail/service with more than 10 workers P286, P255 for not more than 10 workers.
These new minimum wage rates cover all private sector minimum wage earners in the Davao region; the cities of Davao, Digos, Island Garden City of Samal, Mati and Panabo; and, provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur; Davao Oriental, and Compostela Valley.
Hating the RTWPBs
The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) earlier expressed condemnation against the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) for failing to give the Filipino workers and people any substantial wage hike in their two decades of existence. “The RWBs have thoroughly exposed themselves as nothing but capitalist mechanisms for brutally pressing down workers’ wages,” Elmer Labog, KMU chairperson, said.
The highest wage increase ever approved by RWBs in 20 years was P26, KMU secretary general Roger Soluta said. “Aside from this,” he continued, “wage increases approved by RWBs were not necessarily enjoyed by all workers, for RWBs are notorious for granting numerous exemptions to capitalists in implementing wage hikes.”
Soluta said the real value of workers’ wages has been thoroughly eroded by the increasing prices of basic goods and services.
“The intensifying hunger and poverty that we are experiencing are verified by research showing the immense reduction in our wages’ real value and their distance even from the government’s conservative estimates of the amount that we need to live decently,” Labog said.
On the other hand, Suyao told Edge Davao that the RTWPB of Region 11 is confident of its decision in coming up with wage adjustments, judiciously considering all facts, figures and sectoral positions.
“Wage orders issued by RTWPB are based on extensive and in-depth studies of the economic conditions in the region using relevant socio-economic indicators, and in consultation with concerned government agencies,” he said.
Suyao added that prior to the issuance, extensive consultations were also conducted with the labor and management sectors, and even interviews with minimum wage earners themselves.
P125, not non-cash benefits
Immediate economic relief to the Filipino workers and people, Labog said, will be provided only upon the approval of House Bill 375 filed by Anakpawis Partylist Representative Rafael Mariano, seeking the legislation of P125 across-the-board wage hike nationwide.
Countering the government’s claim that a nationwide P125-wage hike will cause massive factory closures and retrenchments leading to an inflationary spiral, the KMU said granting this increase will amount to only 15-percent reduction in the profits of capitalists.
Noting the research made by Ibon Foundation based on the 2008 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry of the National Statistics Office, he said, the research reveals that a significant wage increase will only amount to a minor reduction in capitalists’ profits.
Further, KMU lauded Wednesday Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. for filing Senate Bill 1981 which seeks to legislate a P125 across-the-board wage hike for private-sector workers in the country, saying the senator’s move is also a boost for House Bill 375 which has the same intent.
Labog added that junking the 12-percent expanded-value added tax (E-vat) on petroleum products that will reduce oil prices by as much as P7 per liter is another concrete measure that will provide immediate economic relief to Filipinos.
Labog said, “We are are still outraged, however, because a significant wage hike is most urgent for the Filipino workers and people in the face of increasing prices of basic goods and services.”
