By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson backs the statement of a local business leader that the rising food inflation should be addressed first before wage hike talks can be made.

According to Lacson, he agrees with businessman Frank Carbon that the proposed P750 increase in the daily wage is too much for businesses.

“Patay gid ‘ta sina,” Lacson said.

He said the labor sector has their reasons for the proposal.

However, he said the present inflation rates cannot be corrected by simply hiking the workers’ wages.

“There are other ways to address inflation and not by increasing the salary to catch up with the price. In fact, I agree with Mr. Carbon that we should lower [inflation first],” Lacson said.

Earlier over the weekend, Carbon said the business sector has been appealing to the government and multinational companies to invest heavily in food production for the agricultural sector to improve.

Carbon said Filipinos’ access to cheaper food must be addressed first before the government considers raising wages.

He pointed out the proposed P750 increase in the daily wage is too much for businesses, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises still reeling from the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic./DGB, WDJ