Baguio asks wage board to adjust salaries amid energy crisis
BAGUIO CITY—The Cordillera wage board should consider adjusting salaries in response to the energy crisis triggered by tensions in Iran, the city council said in a resolution unanimously approved on Monday.
Councilor Jose Molintas, who sponsored the measure, said the Cordillera Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) should initiate wage determination proceedings to address the erosion of workers’ purchasing power.
The RTWPB had recently increased the daily minimum wage from P470 to P505 in December last year, while the monthly pay for domestic workers, or “kasambahay,” was raised from P6,000 to P6,600 in Baguio and the Cordillera provinces of Ifugao, Kalinga, Benguet, Abra, Apayao, and Mountain Province.
The resolution was passed on the eve of a diesel price rollback on Tuesday, when fuel prices in Baguio dropped from P158.80-P165.79 per liter to P133-P138.90 per liter. Gasoline prices also declined from P105.40-P109.30 to P97-P101.70 per liter.
‘Burden calibration’
However, global oil markets remain volatile following reported disruptions in Iranian ports along the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for oil tankers supplying Asia, including the Philippines.
The Philippine Statistics Authority has yet to release Cordillera inflation data for March. National figures showed inflation rising to 4.1 percent in February from 2.4 percent in January, while highland inflation previously increased to 3.1 percent from 1.9 percent over the same period.
The city council also urged the wage board to “calibrate the burden” of wage adjustments based on employers’ capacity to pay to avoid disrupting the local economy.
Molintas said the board should consider a tiered wage structure, where large firms shoulder higher wage increases during periods of crisis.
He added that a more gradual adjustment for small businesses would help prevent layoffs, alongside a streamlined exemption process for distressed microenterprises and small establishments employing 10 workers or fewer.
The resolution also cited the peso’s depreciation against the US dollar amid sustained market volatility, which could further strain small businesses. As of Tuesday, the peso stood at P60.07 to $1.
It further called on the RTWPB to conduct public hearings on profit sharing and business capacity, and to determine “survival thresholds” for small enterprises.
The council said a comprehensive wage review could also help prepare the region in case overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in the Middle East decide to return home amid geopolitical tensions.
According to Department of Migrant Workers-Cordillera labor officer Amarath Abalos, Cordilleran nurses and domestic workers were already being deployed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Libya even before recent escalations. As of March, 185 Cordillerans were among 358 OFWs deployed to the Middle East.
Last year, the regional office processed the deployment of 1,809 Cordillera workers—including health workers, retail staff, domestic workers, and teachers—to countries, such as the UAE, Canada, and Australia, Abalos said at a forum.
Meanwhile, the city government has implemented other measures to help stabilize the local economy.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong approved the postponement of a transitional rent plan for tenants of the Maharlika Livelihood Center to cushion the impact of rising fuel costs.
The Maharlika Center, Baguio’s first shopping mall built in 1980 by former first lady Imelda Marcos, was turned over to the city late last year.
