‘Legislated wage hike to hurt 50K retailers’ By Andrea E. San Juan
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ROUND 50,000 Filipino retailers are at risk if the legislated wage hike will push through, according to the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA). PRA President Roberto S. Claudio said the legislated wage hike may have an impact on the retail sector as more employees will lose their jobs if the wage hike will hurdle Congress. “Because most of the businesses, if they have to comply with the higher wages, they will simply reduce employment,” Claudio told reporters on the sidelines of the recent 49th National Retail Conference and Expo. “Kasi kailangan bayaran mo ngayon
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‘yung mga magagaling pa na nandoon, kailangan ng [Because you must pay now the good ones who are still there with] higher wages, so they’ll give them higher wages but they’ll reduce everything at the bottom,” the PRA head added. Moreover, he divulged that the retail sector is concerned that the wage hike may give rise to labor problems such as loss of employment. “Mas mabuti pang mas maraming nakakakuha ng trabaho, maski [It’s better that more people have jobs] at a certain level rather than itataas mo pero yung [you raise wages but the] affordability, the viability of companies will be sacrificed that they will instead reduce workers and manpower,” Claudio noted.
The PRA head gave estimates of workers at risk once the legislated wage hike gets the nod of Congress. With around half a million people working for the retailing industry, Claudio said “easily 10 percent of that will be decimated,” which is equivalent to around 50,000 employees. The PRA chief pointed out that the estimated figure of 50,000 who will be affected is only limited to the retail sector. In terms of family benefits, however, he illustrated that with “one person working in the retail industry...it has maybe four or five family dependents. So we were saying before, about 2 to 2.5 million people are dependent on the retail industry.” Claudio said that on top of the
500,000 “mainstream” retail workers, the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) translate to another 300,000 to 500,000 in terms of loss of employment. “It is something that will be affecting mostly retailers and MSMEs ...if there is another round of increase. Because there’s an increase, right, for now; even the round that has already been approved [a reference to the Metro Manila wage order that took effect last July 16], businesses are already adjusting,” the PRA head said. Claudio emphasized that the legislated wage hike must be “synchronized” with the country’s inflation rate and ability to generate investments. See “Legislated,” A2
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PAGCOR TARGETS P80-B PRE-COVID TAKE BY 2024 T w
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Tuesday, August 15, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 302
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages |
By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
‘Realignments favor PHL as ideal pivot pt for trade’
@jearcalas
HE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (Pagcor) revenues would return to prepandemic level of P80 billion by next year on the back of the country’s economic growth and rising gaming demand, its chairman said.
“We will be able to attain about 92 percent of our prepandemic numbers already from last year’s 63 percent. This year we are expecting 92 percent of our 2019 prepandemic numbers,” Pagcor Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco told lawmakers during the House of Appropriations hearing on the agency’s proposed 2024 budget on Monday. Based on Pagcor’s presentation, this would mean that the government-ow ned and -controlled corporation would achieve a P75.495 billion in total income this year, about 28.04 percent higher than last year’s P58.96 billion. About P71.307 billion of Pagcor’s projected total revenues this year would come from its gaming operations, according to the presentation. Pagcor’s total income in 2019 stood at P79.419 billion, with P75.759 billion coming from gaming operations. Pagcor’s total income in the first half rose by 35.64 percent to P36.217 billion from P26.7 billion in the same period last year. Tengco explained that historically the second half accounts for See “Pagcor,” A2
By Andrea E. San Juan
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ON Monday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte took the lead in the inaugural day of Brigada Eskwela at V. Mapa High School in Manila. They participated in painting school chairs as part of the annual clean-up initiative, scheduled from August 14 to 19. The campaign aims is to get more than 47,678 public schools across the nation ready for the commencement of classes on August 29. See related stories on Brigada Eskwela and school opening preparations on A5 News. PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
POPULAR SPOTS STILL GET BULK OF TOURISM ROADS BUDGET By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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HE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has been allocated some P13.97 billion to build access roads and bridges to declared tourism destinations, under a convergence program with the Department of Tourism (DOT). According to the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for fiscal year 2024 proposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), some 66 percent of the funds or P9.2 billion will be allocated to the DPWH Central Office in the National Capital Region (NCR). Outside the NCR, Central Visayas
will receive the largest budget at P771.34 million, with Cebu getting the most funds at P320 million. DBM documents said these funds will be used for the “construction, reconstruction, upgrading, and improvement of roads and bridges” under Tourism Road Infrastructure Program (TRIP). Next year’s P13.97-billion TRIP budget is 21 percent less than this year’s funding of P17.7 billion. The DPWH and DOT jointly draw up the technical criteria and identify the priority areas where these roads and bridges will be constructed or improved to support the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) of 2023-2028. The convergence program was forged in 2012 by then Tourism Secretary Ramon R.
Jimenez Jr. and Public Works Secretary Rogelio “Babes” L. Singson.
Top allocations outside NCR
OF the TRIP regional budget for 2024, after Central Visayas, the following regions will get the largest allocations: Davao Region at P470.86 million; the Cordillera Autonomous Region, where Sagada and Baguio are located, at P438.75 million; Cagayan Valley, which hosts the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, at P436.22 million; Western Visayas, where Iloilo and Bacolod are frequented by domestic tourists, at P363.26 million; and Calabarzon, where Batangas and Quezon are located, at P320 million. Under the baseline scenario of the NTDP 2023-2028, the DOT is
trying to attract 7.7 million international travelers and encourage 93.5 million domestic trips for 2024. The agency also projects visitor receipts of P5.5 billion from foreign guests and P2.21 trillion from domestic travelers that same year. Said visitor receipts are aimed to generate P2.4 trillion in tourism gross valueadded and increase the tourism sector’s share to 10.26 percent of the local economy, as expressed in the gross domestic product.
P286B inbound receipts
AS of August 10, the Philippines received 3.4 million international travelers, some 71 percent of the DOT’s target of 4.8 million for 2023, as per data released by the DOT. See “Popular,” A2
RADE Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said the ongoing realignment of geopolitical forces makes the Philippines an “ideal pivot point” for international trade. In his speech during the Rotary Zone 10A Public Image Congress last August 12, the Trade chief underscored the “fundamentals” that strengthen the country as it pursues inclusive growth. Among those he cited is the importance of forging international partnerships amid the ongoing change in the global geopolitics, which he said will help create highquality jobs for Filipinos. “The world is realigning, driven by trade tensions, regional aspirations, and a global trend toward decentralization. Amid this flux, countries and businesses seek stability and assurance, re-evaluating their dependencies and seeking diversification in their supply chains,” Pascual said, adding that here lies the “golden opportunity” for the Philippines. The Trade chief pointed to factors that could make the Philippines a “beacon” amid the evolving global geopolitics. “Our geographical location serves as a strategic gateway between the East and West, making us an ideal pivot point for international trade,” Pascual stressed. He noted that apart from this, the country’s human resources are another “significant draw” given its young, educated, and Englishspeaking population. In relation to the country’s geographic advantage in terms of location, Pascual pointed out that the Philippines’s “unique geographic positioning makes our nation a natural gateway connecting the world’s most bustling markets.” According to the Trade chief, investors eyeing the Asian landscape find in the Philippines a “sweet spot.” He said the country is where the “pulse of Asia’s dynamism” meets the promise of accessibility and reach. See “Realignments,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.2040 n JAPAN 0.3877 n UK 71.3735 n HK 7.1894 n CHINA 7.7642 n SINGAPORE 41.5802 n AUSTRALIA 36.5101 n EU 61.5378 n KOREA 0.0423 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.9806 Source: BSP (August 14, 2023)