EDITORIAL - Incentive for the labor sector

It is expected that the business sector will vehemently oppose the proposal of Senator Vicente Sotto III that mandates a 14th month pay for all regular government and private employees in the country.

Many businessmen believe that Sotto's Senate Bill 1645, which seeks to provide such incentive to workers, would only harm the government's efforts to attract more foreign investments. 

For them, there's really no need to give such benefit to workers. "The more mandated increases, the more foreign investment will shy away," according to Robert Go, director of the board of the Cebu Chapter of Philippine Retailers Association.

Well, it has become a natural course for the business sector to oppose any move to give workers additional benefits. They would always contend that the country already has a high labor cost that forced many foreign investors to transfer their businesses to neighboring countries.

However, based on the prevailing atmosphere, the country's attractiveness before the international business community has soared to record high. In fact, reforms implemented by the Aquino administration have pushed the country forward as the rising star among the world's emerging markets. 

Of course, the economy has been growing at an unprecedented rate, which greatly benefited the business sector. Overall, the picture is pretty good and the country is well on its way to real economic prosperity.

Now, given this positive environment, the public believes that it's time for the business sector to give back and provide even just a little benefit to the labor sector. It cannot be denied that it's the workers who hold an important position as the heart and soul of any business entity.

And since businessmen now enjoy a favorable business climate, it is perhaps time they take extra effort to improve the condition of their workers. This is not to say Sotto's proposal of a 14th month pay is very timely. Any form of benefit would do if businessmen really wanted to help alleviate the lives of their workers.