Hope springs eternal in the human breast, especially during elections, for a number of reasons.
In the case of a prominent businessman, there is the economy per capita and small-and-medium industries. In a sense, the future. In a nation with more than 50 percent of its people who have rated themselves poor, hope is more than just an abstract concern.
For Rene Romero, chairman of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAMCHAM), one of their group’s priority advocacies in 2025 is the workers’ minimum wage. If Romero had his way, he would fix it at P1,000 per day.
Romero’s business makes him answerable to more than 8,000 workers, mainly wage earners. Their daily earnings which fall way below what is PAMCHAM’s advocacy, break his heart. His workers constant battle with inflation are a regular office stuff and oftentimes tugs at his purse.
“It’s doable” . Romero without batting an eyelash or what passes for it, as he crunched his numbers at a meeting with members of the Capampangan in Media (CAMI) in Clark recently. The government can start the ball rolling, he said.
Romero proposes a government subsidy to make it happen. Based on his rough computation, government would not allocate more than a trillion to finance the hike in the minimum wage. Nor does need to borrow. Government economists can convince the country’s leaders without scaring them with complicated computations. That’s where the problem begins, Romero said. A man’s reach must exceed his grasps, the English poet Robert Browning rhymed, or what’s heaven for.
If you consider government savings coming from various government agencies every year, the ideal looks very realistic. Besides, the increase earnings for the wage earners will come back to the government in higher tax revenues and greater productivity,
The Philippines doesn’t have go beyond the ASEAN backyard for exemplary models. Malaysia and Singapore are examples. Romero also challenged the country’s employers to support the govern subsidy plan with their own contribution to fast-track the advocacy.
At one time, PAMCHAM was considered the most active chamber in the country. Its leadership role in helping save Pampanga from the devastation wrought by the Mt. Pinatubo explosion more than two decades ago and serving as a catalyst in the province since then are widely known.
Romero knows whereof he spoke as far as government capacity to help workers and business. He was involved when the provincial government tapped the private sector toward a multisectoral private and public coordination to boost investment. Pampanga even beat Cebu in industrial growth rate during that time. Previously, he also chaired the regional development council in Central Luzon.
During the COVID pandemic, Romero understood how public and private partnership worked for the latter’s initiative and advocacy. He joined other private employers in coordinating with the national and provincial officials in providing vaccines and other medical support to the former employers. He had no doubt the mutual effort helped many, even saved lives.
In other words, Romero has both the valuable experience and wide expertise to back up his group’s advocacy for a higher minimum wage via a government subsidy.
He was once offered to run for public office, He declined knowing fully well what he was capable of and what public office required especially as his private life would entail. But he takes pride He in remembering that he was at one time involved in making a priest elected as the province’s highest official. He still look at the political success a miracle. His only small regret is that he virtually was denied access to the governor, later. Like any human being, he,too, has learned his lesson.
Even then, Romero believes politicians play an important role in improving the life of the people, especially the poor.
For his advocacy to do something about the miminum wage issue, Romero knows PAMCHAM needs a champion at the national level. He has chosen a former senator, now a running back for the same position again, Bam Aquino.
BASED on surveys, AQUINO can still make it in the Magic 12, although not really far behind in the race. Aquino had been a champion for the small and medium entrepreneurs. He can and will do that again, and the minimum wage advocacy will be his new torch. Romero strongly feel for many SMIs which suffered as a result of the pandemic. They are the backbone of the economy and need the support they can get from the government. Stronger SMIs mean a stronger economy. Locally, this means that Pampanga has the potential to better its fifth rank in the nationwide economy.
There is a sense shared widely that the so-called pink politicians are gaining back their reputation as not only oppositionists but progre ssive nationalists. This belief will hopefully bolster the chances of Aquino to break into the Magic 12. Romero’s optimism is both nurtured and forged on this emerging sense. This is not to say that it is the only option for PAMCHAM. In the group’s continuing journey to be a catalyst for countryside growth and development, there have been many who have been instrumental in pushing for its advocacies and have been so credited for their unbridled commitment for the underdogs.
Romero has an enviable wealth of narratives behind being an aging Pollyanna. And there will be more heroes and heroines, sung and unsung, in the making.
