Prior to deliberations and the subsequent approval of the P22 a day cost-of-living allowance (COLA) to private sector minimum wage earners in the metropolis by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-National Capital Region (NCR), the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) has filed a manifestation before the RTWPB-NCR.

Through the manifestation, ECOP President Edgardo G. Lacson said the Confederation reserves the option to question at the proper time the validity of Resolution No. 01 issued by RTWPB-NCR on April 12, 2011 declarating the existence of a supervening condition in the Region as confirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) on the same day, which is in the nature of an interlocutory order.

ECOP supports the dissent of the two employers representatives at the time Resolution 01 was issued, there did not exist any of supervening condition to justify the entertainment of the Petition and disturbing Wage Order No. NCR-15 within one year from its effectivity date on July 1, 2010, Lacson emphasized. He argued that the inflation rate in NCR even declined from 4.6% in February to 4.0% in March, well within the BSP national projection of 3% to 5% for 2010. Even the inflation rate derived from the movement of the CPI in NCR remained fairly stable.

Lacson added that the absence of justifiable ground for declaration of supervening condition is further validated by the recent formal declaration by the RTWPB-Region IV-A of non-existence of supervening condition as basis to entertain the TUCP petition of a P100.00 across-the-board daily wage increase. In fact, he said, ECOP received reliable information a number of other regions have issued declarations of non-existence.

Furthermore, Lacson noted in the manifestation that the petition for a P75.00 across-the-board daily wage increase is not "legally tenable and economically feasible." He argued that the regional wage boards do not have the power to grant across-the-board wage increases, citing that their power is limited to determining or fixing the minimum wage rate by the "floor-wage method" or the "salary-ceiling method."

Lacson also maintained that even if the increase of P75.00 is limited to the minimum wage, it would increase the minimum wage rate of P404.00 for covered enterprises in the NCR to P479.00 a day. He related that based upon the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) methodology in computing labor cost, P479.00 is considered as the direct labor cost, constituting 74.4% of total labor cost. Indirect labor cost constitutes the balance of 25.6% of total labor cost. Applying 25.6% to P479.00 would be equivalent to indirect labor cost of P122.62. Thus, adding P122.62 to P479.00 would amount to P601.62 as total labor cost.

Such an amount, Lacson pointed out, would not only be oppressive but even worse, destructive to the viability of enterprises in the NCR where about 28% of total registered establishments in the country operate employing 43% of wage and salary workers in the formal sector. This destructive impact would ripple out to the rest of the regions.