House to recall OK of wage hike bill

The House of Representatives intends to recall its approval of the P125 wage increase bill even after the Senate labor committee decided to adopt the measure to expedite its enactment into law.

"We will reconsider its final and third-reading approval so we can correct its constitutional defect," Majority Leader Prospero Nograles told The STAR yesterday.

He said the proposed P125 increase in the minimum wage cannot be retroactive to July 2006 as written in the bill "because that is against the Constitution."

Opposition congressmen claimed that the move of the House to reverse its approval of the measure was prompted by lobbying from big businessmen and President Arroyo, who has vowed to veto it.

Nograles denied there is such a lobby, but he admitted that, "once approval is reconsidered, anything can happen (to the wage hike bill)."

"There is a proposal from some congressmen that they should just increase the (workers’) cost-of-living allowance instead of the salary. This will be considered," he said.

Actually, the move to reverse House approval of the wage measure was initiated on Monday night by Deputy Majority Leader Jesus Crispin Remulla, but the majority shelved his motion since there was not enough attendance to approve it.

Remulla, representative of the third district of Cavite, planned to present it again last night.

He told his colleagues on Monday that employers in his district have told him that they could not afford the wage increase if it were made effective July 2006 and that they would be forced to close shop if the date of effectivity was not changed.

He said many of his constituents would lose their jobs if the businessmen made good their threat to close shop.

Militant party-list representatives immediately blocked Remulla’s motion to recall final-reading approval of the wage bill. They warned the majority that they would question the quorum if it put the motion to a vote.

Nograles said he does not see a problem in having the approval of the bill reconsidered.

"We will have a quorum sooner or later. Once we have it, we can reconsider the approval of the bill," he said.

He also questioned the vote taken by his chamber on the measure on the last day of session last month before lawmakers went on their three-week Christmas break.

"There were 20 opposition congressmen on the floor, the deputy majority leader and a presiding officer. There was no objection when the wage increase was put to a vote, so it was approved," he said.

However, Nograles conceded that approval of the bill was not the fault of the congressmen present during the last day of session.

"But it was not also the fault of the majority who were not there," he said.

Malacañang, on the other hand, slammed the senators for attempting to put President Arroyo in a bad light in moving to approve the proposed legislated wage hike bill.

Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio said the opposition senators knew all along that Mrs. Arroyo would certainly turn down the "economically-unsound" measure.

"For them to pass the buck to the President, they admit that it is mere politics that is behind the approval and disregarding dire warnings on the measure’s consequences on the economy," Claudio said.

"What kind of motive is that, to pass legislation to put the President on the spot. We expected a more substantive and redeeming purpose in approving bills," he said.

Claudio said the bottom line in approving the controversial wage bill is politics.

"It’s really just politics. No regard for the businesses that will be forced to shut down, jobs and livelihood that will be lost," he said.

Claudio claimed some senators are trying to make some "cheap political points" in pushing for the legislated wage hike law.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, for his part, said Malacañang would prefer the regional wage board to determine the salary increase.

Another ranking Palace official, meanwhile, welcomed the move of the House to recall the legislated wage bill from the Senate.

The official said the move effectively stalled the legislative mill on the controversial wage bill.

"This should give our lawmakers in the House an opportunity to reflect more seriously on the implications of the wage measure," the official said. – With Paolo Romero