Arroyo's threat to veto P125 wage increase will lead to her political destruction

Workers to highlight wage hike demands in ASEAN Summit protests

As various sectoral groups converge in Cebu City for the broad protests for the 12th ASEAN Summit, labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said they will underscore wage hike issues of private sector employees in the week-long protest actions that aim to expose the anti-people agenda of the regional meeting of Asian leaders. "Filipino workers will continue to fight for the P125 across-the-board wage hike. Not even Arroyo's veto powers can stifle our struggle for economic relief. Workers need wage hikes to survive and we will do everything to realize the granting of substantial wage adjustments," said KMU Secretary General Joel Maglunsod.

"Though business groups and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) continue to assert that the Filipino workers receive higher wages compared to other Asian workers, the harsh truth cannot be denied – Filipinos endure staggering cost of living and more families are living way below the poverty threshold. Despite prospects and figures of a developing economy as claimed by government economists, we remain poorer than other Asian countries."

According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), current family living wages should be Php768 or $16 ($1-P48). This amount is far from actual wages received by Filipino workers with lowest rate wages pegged at P109 in Region IV-B and Php126 in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Real minimum wages in the NCR is only Php246. Electricity, water and LPG costs are ever-increasing. Workers cannot cope with this situation. Current wage levels are far from enough to cover the steadily rising cost of public utilities, services and basic needs,' Maglunsod stressed.

"With Donald Dee heading the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, it is likely that the Council will propose regional economic reforms that will further burden Filipino workers and our fellow Asian workers. We regard Dee as the business sectors' official spokesperson against wage hikes for Filipino workers. The ASEAN's thrust of regional market integration will not benefit Filipinos and Asian workforce. This integration scheme will only serve the long-term economic plans outlined by financial agencies and governments espousing globalization," the labor leader concluded.