P13 WAGE HIKE: Better than nothing

HIGHER PAY: Metro Cebu workers, like these two construction workers, will soon be getting a daily pay of P366 after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas approved a P13 increase in their minimum daily wage.

THE P13 wage hike in Metro Cebu approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) may not be much but it will still be a welcome increase, no matter how small, due to the rising prices of basic commodities.

Thus was the sentiment of people in random interviews conducted by Cebu Daily News on the wage increase announced by the RTWPB on Monday.
Dr. Mathea Baguia, consultant of the Cebu Provincial Employment Services Offices (PESO) said that while it is not much, P13 /day can still help in many ways.

“It can still help in many ways. That might be too small for our wage earners but this P13 wage increase is already a result of a study by the different sectors under the RTWPB,” said Baguia.

Baguia added that Filipinos are an enterprising lot and do not solely depend on their salaries.

This, she said, is the reason why the Provincial Capitol has been implementing small-scale livelihood projects over the years such as meat-processing and candle-making to help augment people’s income.

For 23-year-old Princess Jia Andriza Artajo, an employee of a consumer brands distributor, the slight wage increase is okay although it may not be felt much.

“It’s fine, at least there’s a movement but it will not go a long way. Gamay ra siya kay gadako ang atong gasto (Our daily expenses increase),” Artajo said.

Artajo, who regularly sends out money to her siblings back in Cagayan de Oro City, said that a reasonable increase would have been P50 to P100.

“Dagko gyud unta, kanang ma-feel sa katawhan (It should have been higher than P13 which the workers can very much feel),” she said.

Myline Gullem, 24, a convenience store cashier in Mandaue City, also echoed the same sentiment. Gullem earns P5, 295 for 15 days of work and a big portion of her salary goes to her boarding house rent, food and groceries.

But with a baby coming out in seven months, Gullem said her existing salary will soon not be enough and that the P13 won’t have much effect.

“Gamay ra man na nga increase. Bisan man lang unta og P20 (That increase is too little. It should have been at least P20),” Gullem told Cebu Daily News.

Job order employees in the Mandaue City Hall also clamored for an increase in their wage, especially those who have a number of mouths to feed.

Graphic artist Leandro Sabucido, 38, said that an increase in wage must be for all employees both in the public and private sector.

“If they plan for an increase, it should be fair to all. An increase must also be granted for public sector employees,” Sabucido said in Cebuano.

Sabucido has three kids in the elementary level and his wife is a housekeeper. He earns roughly P15,000 a month. He also runs three units of Pisonet or arcade style computer units used as internet or gaming vending machine on the side and earns around P1,200 weekly.

“But as my children go higher in their education two years from now, what I’m earning today will not be enough in the future,” Sabucido said. “Sige pa gyud og saka ang mga palaliton (What’s more, prices of commodities keep on increasing).”

City Hall building guard Alden Duallo, 39, also said that an increase is needed in the public sector. Duallo earns around P8,200 a month and provides for the needs of his wife and their 15-year-old child.

To make both ends meet, they would often resort to “5-6” or  moneylenders who charge extremely high interest on loans.

Duallo doesn’t mind how much the wage increase will be implemented for the public sector as long as there is a movement in their wages.