Don’t expect 200 subsidy, workers told

A labor group has forewarned 4.1 million minimum wage workers not to expect the P200-monthly subsidy endorsed by the Department of Labor Employment (DoLE) for approval by President Rodrigo Duterte for fear it might be rejected by his economic managers.

“I advise minimum wage workers not to expect too much from the proposed economic relief. We expect the economic managers would recommend to President Duterte to turn it down,” Associated Labor Unions (ALU) spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

Tanjusay tagged Duterte’s economic managers for expressing disapproval to the measure that ALU proposed to help minimum wage earners cope with the rising inflation.

“Our only hope is for Mr. Duterte to realize the urgent need for workers to be given economic relief in the face of the incredible series of increases in the prices of commodities and services, making life difficult for workers who help and maintain the economic growth at a competitive level,” Tanjusay said.

Last year, the group presented to the President the first-ever government subsidy program for minimum wage earners amid the eroding purchasing power of their daily pay and the rising prices of commodities and increasing costs of services.

Under the Labor Empowerment and Assistance Program or LEAP, an initial 4.1 million minimum wage earners as active-paying members of the Social Security System will be given monthly cash vouchers equivalent to P500 to be used in the purchase of grocery items. The Office of the President was identified as the source of funds for the program for the first year.

However, the DoLE modified the proposal the group submitted to Malacañang last week by proposing P200 for the first year, P300 and P400 in the succeeding years.