BACOLOD CITY — Negrense labor leader Wennie Sancho is seeking a review of the daily wage rates in Western Visayas in the wake of higher inflation.
Sancho, representing the workers in the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of Western Visayas, said he made the manifestation during the board’s meeting in Iloilo City on Thursday.
“The labor sector believes the unabated increases in the prices of petroleum products now constitute a supervening condition that would justify the issuance of a new wage order even before the one-year effectivity period,” he said.
Sancho pointed out the urgent need to review Wage Order No. 24, which took effect in July this year, mainly due to economic indicators, such as inflation and consumer price index, and their effects on the purchasing power of workers.
In Wage Order No. 24, daily minimum wage rates in Western Visayas range from PHP295 to PHP365, up from PHP271.50 to PHP323.50 under Wage Order No. 23.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported an inflation rate of 6.7 percent for September, which is higher than August’s 6.4 percent.
The PSA said the uptrend was primarily brought about by the heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index that further accelerated to 9.7 percent last month.
All regions outside the National Capital Region, including Western Visayas, registered higher year-on-year inflation rates in September, compared to the previous month’s year-on-year changes, it added. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
