Senate body adopts House version of wage hike bill

Ignoring warnings from employers and appeals from tripartite regional boards, which are deliberating on wage hike petitions, the Senate committee on labor and employment has adopted the House bill proposing a P125 across-the-board increase in the minimum wage of workers in the private sector, committee chairman Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said yesterday.

The move by both chambers of Congress to return to legislated wage fixing has been widely criticized as a political stunt to score brownie points as the midterm elections approach.

President Arroyo has vowed to veto any wage hike bill.

Estrada said he would no longer pursue his proposal for a P100 wage hike for workers to be implemented in three years - P40 for the first year and P30 for the second and third years.

"The committee has decided to adopt the House version. I have already signed the committee reports together with several senators and I will sponsor the committee report this afternoon," Estrada said.

Except for a slight difference in the date of implementation, Estrada said his committee has adopted the House bill in its entirety. The House version wants to implement the wage increase retroactive October 2006, while the Senate committee wants the wage hike to be implemented effective January this year.

Estrada passed the buck to President Arroyo to ease the burden of private workers.

"If (President) Arroyo will not sign it and it lapses into law, then good for the workers. If she vetoes it, that’s not my problem anymore. She should answer to the laborers," Estrada told reporters at the Senate.

During a Senate hearing on the measure earlier this month, Estrada was advised by labor groups to call the bluff of the House of Representatives and pass the burden of approving the bill to the President.

As far as the Senate is concerned, Estrada said they have performed their duties in working for the wage increase to benefit workers.

The House Bill proposed a P45-wage increase for all employees in the country, regardless of status or industry, on the first year of implementation, P40 the following year, and another P40 on the third year. – Christina Mendez