No to P125 legislated wage increase, anti-contractualization bill -- Aquino

President Aquino gives his own personal pin to workers at one of the booths at the Labor Day Jobs and Livelihood Fair on Tuesday.

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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA -- Despite appeals from various labor groups, President Benigno Aquino III has thumbed down the proposed P125 across-the-board legislated wage hike. He also expressed reservations on a consolidated bill on security tenure for workers which aims to end the practice of contractualization.

Aquino, in his speech during Tuesday’s tripartite meeting with 16 labor groups and representatives of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, said a legislated wage hike would force companies to close shop.

He said the proposal would result in wage hikes amounting to P1.4 trillion, which is almost a fourth of the country’s P8 trillion economy.

Aquino said in 2011, wages increased by 5.4 percent, higher than the country’s inflation rate of 4.8 percent.

He said Philippine wages are actually among the highest in Asia at about $9 to $10 a day, higher than those in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

The President was also lukewarm to the appeal of workers for him to certify as urgent House Bill 4853 or the consolidated version of various security of tenure bills.

Aquino said while the bill is expected to benefit some 1.8 million workers who are employed on a contractual basis, it can also result in the loss of jobs of 10 million workers.

“Is this really a solution? Or is it additional problem for us?” he said.

“We are not closing our doors. We will take a look if the bill can be amended,” the President added.

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