Law needed to abolish wage boards —Palace

Malacañang said on Wednesday that regional wage boards can only be abolished through a law passed by Congress.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement after the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urged President Rodrigo Duterte to abolish regional wage boards and instead create a singular wage-fixing body to determine a uniform minimum wage rate nationwide.

The TUCP argued that the current minimum wage setting mechanism only favors businesses and no longer balances the interest of workers who have to contend with rising commodity prices.

"Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards are created by law [Republic Act 6727]. The call of certain groups to abolish these and replace them with a singular wage-fixing body requires congressional fiat," Panelo said.

"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."

Panelo said 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."

"The Executive however will review and study the proposed change of structure of these boards," he said.

Currently, there are 17 wage boards across the country mandated to set a minimum wage, all of which were created in 1989 through Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act.

"The rationale behind their creation is due to the different characteristics and peculiarities apropos [with respect to] their respective commercial settings, a vital factor in determining the applicable wages of the subject constituents," Panelo said.

The minimum daily wage in Metro Manila was adjusted upward to P537 in November last year, but wages in the rest of the country currently fall below this. —LDF, GMA News