To a labor leader, P100 is ingeniously described as a petty amount that cannot decently feed a family or sustain the nutritional needs of a worker for a day.

He is joined by a sympathetic broadcaster who reports that P100 is just enough to buy hogwash.

This false narrative is repeatedly aired by some labor leaders and their media allies, in Goebbels-like fashion, to make it sound true and to squeeze the last ounce of pity for the “lowly” paid workers and gain the loyalty of union members.

But contextually, the P100/day wage hike bill passed by the Senate on successive readings provides a minimum wage earner an additional P2,860 per month inclusive of increases on related compensation required by law.

The senators might be interested in knowing the serious impact of the bill on a single semiconductor company based in Calabarzon that employs 15,000 minimum-wage workers. The P100/day translates to an incremental P557.7 million yearly, including the mandatory 13th-month pay and the consequent increase in overtime pay, retirement benefits, holiday premiums, and statutory contributions to SSS and PhilHealth.

This yearly rise in payroll cost excludes the mandated upward salary distortion adjustments for above-minimum-wage workers under a formula provided by law.

Interestingly, this company (and all enterprises in the same industry) earns a few centavos per finished product it produces and exports to foreign buyers. With declining orders due to fierce price competition from other countries, this company needs to generate billions of new orders just to cover the incremental payroll cost.

The P100/day wage hike passed by the Senate is a tired old issue debated ad nauseam by several protagonists on both sides.

Those who are against the bill are notable economists, government economic managers, all business groups, and learned legislators in Congress.

They are viciously branded as anti-poor, rent-seeking, greedy, opportunists, abusive and heartless.

Senator Miguel Zubiri mockingly chided the resisting employers with his unoriginal ribbing, “Moderate your greed.”

Those supporting his bill are painted as white knights, pro-poor, compassionate, humanitarian, do-gooders, altruistic, generous and heaven-sent.

These self-proclaimed champions of the masses and the poor probably know the havoc on our economy caused by the legislated P100 wage hike. Still, they continue to pursue it for dubious reasons.

It is a bill that will harm the very beneficiaries. It aims to help with the ensuing inflation that will invalidate the wage hike and render the whole exercise a zero-sum game. It is, as I wrote before, a short-term gain but a long-term pain.

To urge our senators to abandon SB 2534, let me enumerate the following facts:

•Any wage order triggers inflation that will affect all, including the recipients of the wage hike;

•There are 47.8 million workers in the formal sector;

•The bill’s author proudly claims the P100 will benefit 4 million workers (a mere 10 percent of the total workforce);

•There are equally 47 million workers in the informal economy who are excluded from the wage hike but will severely suffer from the resulting higher prices of goods;

•Every hike in minimum wage carries an attendant 30 percent increase in overtime pay, retirement benefits, holiday pay, mandatory contributions to SSS and PhilHealth, and

•Automatic mandated upward salary distortion adjustments for workers earning above minimum wage using the government’s prescribed formula

It will be recalled that the original bill mandated a P150/day increase but was dubiously adjusted down to P100, probably to lower employers’ resistance. Or, on his second thought, the author realized the horrendous damage the P150/day would wreak on our economy, and he probably thought P100/day would inflict less misery.

The logic and the math of lowering the wage hike adjustment are both wrong!

If there are economists among the senators, it is highly suggested that they meet with the government economic experts and economists from the Foundation of Economic Freedom to guide them through the intricate dynamics of a free market where government intervention is often disruptive and destructive.

It is widely and, perhaps, unkindly suspected that the Senate dumped SB 2534 on the lap of Congress to spite the lower house and paint them as “contravidas” on the eve of national elections.

The country, at this point, more than ever, needs legislators who are compassionate, prudent, and focused on the country’s economic well-being.