“Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.” –Ulysses S. Grant

Under the law, Iloilo businesses are not supposed to lay off workers in order to cushion the impact of wage increases, which took effect on March 16.
Iloilo Business Club (IBC) Executive Director Lea Lara reportedly considered the P15 to P25 daily minimum wage increase a “heavy burden to businesses.”
The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) approved Wage Order No. 23, which was submitted by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-Region VI (RTWPB-6) to the commission on February 15, as announced the Department of Labor and Employment-Region VI (DOLE-6) on March 1.
As a result, the only way to cut costs and for businesses to survive is to lay off, at least, two out of every 10 employees, according to Lara.
She also disclosed, Iloilo businessmen filed an appeal before the RTWPB-6 on March 10.

Mandatory
Under the law, the commission must decide on the appeal within 60 calendar days off filing – which would be June 9, 2017.
Article 123 of the wage order, on DOLE’s conditions of employment states, to wit: “The filing of the appeal does not stay the order unless the person appealing such order shall file with the Commission, an undertaking with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the Commission for the payment to the employees affected by the order of the corresponding increase, in the event such order is affirmed. (As amended by Republic Act No. 6727, June 9, 1989)”
During the public hearings and consultations, labor representatives and Iloilo businesses had the chance to demand from the regional board the consideration of relevant factors in the determination of such minimum wages, including the demand for living wages, wage adjustment vis-à-vis the consumer price index, the cost of living and changes or increases therein, the needs of workers and their families, the need to induce industries to invest in the countryside, improvements in standards of living, the prevailing wage level, fair return of the capital invested and capacity to pay of employers, effects on employment generation and family income, and the equitable distribution of income and wealth along the imperatives of economic and social development.

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The desire of the man is for the woman, but the desire of the woman is the desire of the man; a famous quote by Germaine de Staël.
From her detention cell, Senator Leila de Lima continues to actively participate in public discussion involving critical issues by distributing hand-written notes to the media and other concerned agencies.
De Lima reminds us of De Staël, the daughter of French statesman Jacques Necker, whose dismissal as director of finances by Louis XVI led to the fall of the Bastille. Like De Lima, Madame De Staël, as she was usually called, was involved in politics through her affairs with famous men, her spirited opposition to Napoleon (which earned her banishment from Paris), and her own writings.

Active
De Lima continues to “fiscalize” the modern Napoleon (President Rodrigo Duterte) while behind bars – very much active in national debates through her hard-hitting notes.
A child of the enlightenment, De Staël saw the relation between literature and society as one of mutual influence under the presumption of “the slow but continual march of the human mind in philosophy.”
In her time, De Staël saw the French Revolution produce violence, tyranny, and, eventually, Napoleon, whom she wrote about critically in “Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution” (1816).
She recalls her first meeting with Napoleon, “When I was somewhat recovered from the confusion of admiration, a very strong sense of fear followed.”
Nevertheless, it was De Staël who, years later, after Napoleon exiled her, warned him of a plot on his life./WDJ