A LOCAL business leader said they are eyeing a possible temporary restraining order (TRO) against the impending implementation of Wage Order 26, which provides a P55 to P110 daily minimum wage increase for private sector workers in Western Visayas.Frank Carbon, vice president of Philippine Chamber or Commerce and Industry (PCCI) for the Visayas, said Sunday, May 15, that the move is to avoid irreparable damage to the small businesses and recovery efforts in the region.Carbon, also the chief executive officer of Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), said small businesses may not be able to open up anymore, adding that it will damage the recovery efforts for Western Visayas, particularly to be able to recover economically this year.“This might delay [our recovery] for another year, or worse two years, because businesses cannot open up and create jobs so both damage are irreparable if we cannot recover for another year,” he said.The business leader added “if we cannot hold it locally, or in the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), then we are thinking of possible TRO to protect the businesses and our economic recovery in Region 6.”On Thursday, May 12, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas approved the new salary rates for minimum wage workers in the region.Under which, commercial and industrial or non-agricultural workers will be receiving P450 per day, or an increase of P55 from the existing rate of P395 per day.For those working in the establishments employing 10 workers or less, the approved wage increase is P110 per day. This means that from P310, the daily minimum wage in this category will be P420.For the agricultural sector, workers will receive a P95 per day increase. So from the existing rate of P315, the new rate is P410 per day.The new wage order is now subject to the review and approval of the NWPC and will take effect 15 days after its publication.’Bad timing, horrible’For the business group, they feel that it was done haphazardly and not well thought out for two reasons — “it’s a bad timing and the increase is horrible.”Carbon said it is bad timing in the sense that “we are still in the first two quarters of 2022, we are still starting to recover and 99 percent of businesses in Western Visayas are micro and small with capitalization of P3 million and below, very very small.”“We are asking our small businesses to increase (salary), without even giving hard time recapitalizing these businesses yet. Even the banks will not increase our working capital saying that the market is not yet stabilized so where will you get the repayment amount because there’s no market,” he stressed.The PCCI official also said that they have been telling the RTWPB not to have the wage increase in the first two quarters of 2022.Rather, Carbon said, they are asking the wage board to sit down on the third quarter or last two quarters, citing three major reasons including the prevailing pandemic and security problem, devastation brought by Typhoons Odette and Agataon, and the Ukraine-Russia crisis that causes high fuel and even food prices.The increase is horrible, on the other hand, because they are asking the small businesses, or those with less than 10 employees, for a P110 hike or about 40 percent of the existing rate while asking large corporations of P55 only, Carbon said.“So we cannot understand. It should be matched on the capacity of the employer to pay,” he said, adding that “small ones who are still in the process of rehabilitating their businesses are asked to pay more than the giant ones like big malls and telecommunication companies.”Worst, in the National Capital Region (NCR), the approved wage hike is only P33, which is only six percent. All big companies, the giants in NCR who can afford more were just asked for a P33 increase, he said.“The figure does not make sense,” Carbon said, adding that they are meeting today, May 16, and see if they could still issue a petition for recall of the recommendation made by the RTWPB-6 and ask the latter to sit down again to hear their side before sending it to the NWPC.RespectFor the labor sector, Wennie Sancho, labor representative to the RTWPB-Western Visayas, said in as much as they respect the view of the management, majority of the members of the wage board have already made a decision.“Besides when we talk of timing, it’s been two years that the workers have not received a wage increase. So, it’s a [right] timing for us,” he said.Sancho, also the secretary general of the General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa), explained that the purchasing power of the workers in the region had already deteriorated as the current real value of P1 is only P0.76.“The purchasing power of the workers has to be restored so that they could cope up with the high cost of living,” the labor leader said, adding that the wage order provided a P55 daily minimum wage hike that accounts for only 57 percent of the P95 being asked by the sector.Prohibition against injunctionWhile they also respect the possible legal move of the employers, the labor representative to the RTWPB-Western Visayas asserted the prohibition on injunction.Citing Section 5 of implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the previous wage orders, Sancho said no preliminary or permanent injunction or TRO may be issued by any court tribunal or other entity against the proceeding before the Board under Article 126 of the Labor Code.“For me, if they are aggrieved by the wage order, they can file a petition or opposition to the NWPC. This is a wage order and this should be resolved by the commission,” he said.Sancho pointed out that once the wage order has been finalized already, the one who filed an opposition should post an undertaking with surety or an “appeal bond” satisfactory to the commission for payment equivalent to the number of workers affected.No one ever posted such a bond since he became a labor leader in 1993, Sancho said, adding that “they cannot stall the execution of the Wage Order unless there’s surety.”ExemptionOpposition, meanwhile, can be filed 10 days after the publication of the wage order.On the claims of the employers that they cannot afford for the wage increase this time, Sancho said the wage order also has a provision for exemption.They can file exemption 60 days after the implementation of the wage order, Sancho said.“If they are qualified as distressed establishments they can file for exemption. Also, if they are establishments but they have to comply with certain requirements,” he added.