Negros Occidental Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. said the new pay hike for provincial government employees is now in force, and added that he also favors the granting of salary increases to those in the private sector.

The third tranche of salary increases for the about 2,300 provincial Capitol employees is estimated to cost the provincial government about P92 million.

The pay hike was included in the salaries provincial government employees received Wednesday, Alvarez said.

Some Capitol employees said the increase was barely felt after they had to pay corresponding higher taxes and Government Service Insurance Service dues.

Meanwhile, Alvarez said he favors a pay hike for employees in the private sector but added that the P97 being sought by labor was too high.

The Western Visayas Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board is holding consultations on the petition for a P97 daily wage hike filed by Trade Union of Filipino Workers.

But Wennie Sancho, labor representative of the RTWPB, said they were informed that the National Wages and Productivity Commission has ruled that wage orders issued by the board as a result of supervening conditions are also covered by a one-year prohibition rule.

The rule is that, in general, RTWPBs can issue a wage order only once in a given year, except when there is a supervening condition, such as an extraordinary increase in prices of petroleum products and basic goods and services, Sancho said.

He said he and Hernane Braza, the other labor representative on the RTWPB of Region 6, will file a motion for reconsideration to this new NWPC ruling.

That will mean labor in Western Visayas will have to wait until July 16 before they can have a new wage hike, even if there are supervening conditions, he said.*CPG

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