MANILA – It is up to Congress to discuss any move to abolish all regional wage boards, Malacañang said Wednesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this comment after the labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urged President Rodrigo Duterte to abolish all wage boards in the country and replace them with a single wage-fixing body that will set a uniform minimum wage rate nationwide.
Panelo said regional tripartite wages and productivity boards are created and can only be abolished by legislation.
“The President will initially defer to the wisdom of both houses of Congress as to amending the pertinent provisions relating to the existing wage boards,” he said in a statement.
While it is poised to leave the decision to Congress, Panelo said the executive branch “will review and study the proposed change of structure of these boards.”
“Whether the extinguishment of these boards is beneficial cannot be decided by one interest group alone. It requires consultation among our partners in various sectors, including those legitimately representing labor,” he said.
Panelo cited Republic Act No. 6727, which was enacted in 1989, as the law responsible for the regional wage boards’ creation.
“The rationale behind their creation is due to the different characteristics and peculiarities apropos their respective commercial settings, a vital factor in determining the applicable wages of the subject constituents,” he said.
The TUCP earlier said there is an “urgent need” to abolish the wage boards, saying the 30-year-old law only favors businesses and not the workers.
