By Robina Asido

Thousands of workers in Metro Manila may lose their jobs due to the expected impact of the P85 minimum wage hike, Labor and Employment Secretary Francis Tolentino told reporters on Wednesday.

In a Kapihan in Manila Hotel, Tolentino admitted that there are expected disruptions in the implementation of the wage increase but he also noted that it is very minimal compared to the number of workers who will be benefited.

"We assume that the projection, when we use the general equilibrium model, we predicted that 1.1 million workers in NCR will be benefited. There will be a slight dislocation of around 12,000 employees, these are those who will rotate, retrench or maybe some employers will reduce the number of their employees," he said.

"The disruption is very minimal, but your overall impact is much larger because 1.1 million will immediately benefit starting July 25, the disruption that I am talking about is just almost 12,000," he added.

Tolentino also expressed concern over the possible wage distortion because of the implementation of the minimum wage hike.

"You know the disruption is very minimal, what worries me is the wage distortion, because there are level in a company where not all of their employees are minimum wage earners, the wage distortion is regarding those who are earning higher than the basic which needs to be adjusted, and it will defend on the talks with the employer," he noted.

Despite concerns aired by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. on possible inflation risk, Tolentino also noted the 2.7 percent economic growth is expected due to minimum wage hike in Metro Manila.

"Inflation cannot be prevented, (but) inflation is not just the labor cost, it is due to many factors," he explained.

"What this wage hike would provide is the immediate cushion and impact on real wages and the purchasing power of the worker to provide for his/her family. The other variables that cause inflation may be outside the scope of our mandate but it was really, all of these were considered," he added.PHS