-- Ulysses S. Grant
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The desire of the man is for the woman, but the desire of the woman is for the desire of the man. Thus was one of Germaine Necker de Stael-Holstein's most famous quotes.
From her detention cell, Senator Leila de Lima continued to actively participate in public discussions involving critical issues in government by distributing hand-written notes to media and other concerned agencies.
De Lima reminds us of Germaine Necker de Stael-Holstein, daughter of the 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 Stael, 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 continued to fiscalize the modern Napoleon--President Rodrigo Duterte--behind bars; she is still very much active in national debates through her hard-hitting hand-written notes.
A child of the Enlightenment, de Stael saw the relation of literature and society as one of mutual influence under the presumption of "the slow but continual march of the human mind in philosophy and its rapid but interrupted progress in the arts.
In her time, de Stael 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 remembers first meeting Napoleon: "...when I was somewhat recovered from the confusion of admiration, a very strong sense of fear followed."
Nevertheless, it was de Stael who years later, after Napoleon had exiled her, warned him of a plot on his life.
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UNDER the law, Iloilo businesses aren't supposed to lay off workers if the reason is primarily to cushion the impact of the new wage increase, which took effect on March 16.
If the wage increase is under appeal, business establishments can't fire their employees yet.
Iloilo Business Club (IBC) Executive Director Lea Lara reportedly considered as a "heavy burden to businesses" the P15 to P25 daily minimum wage increase for private sector workers in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) has approved Wage Order No. 23, which was submitted by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-6) to the commission on Feb. 15, as announced the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-6) on March 1.
Because of this, the only way to cut costs and to survive is for employers to lay off at least two in every 10 employees mostly in service-related businesses, Lara stressed.
In the same breath, Lara disclosed that Iloilo businessmen filed an appeal before the RTWPB-6 on March 10.
MANDATORY
Under the law, it shall be mandatory for the Commission to decide such appeal within sixty calendar days from the filing thereof.
From March 10, sixty calendar days falls on June 9, 2017.
Art. 123 on 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, representatives from the workers and the Iloilo businesses had all the chances to demand from the Regional Board to consider some relevant factors in the determination of such regional minimum wages.
These are: 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.
Also, the need to induce industries to invest in the countryside; improvements in standards of living; the prevailing wage levels; 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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