MANILA, Philippines — Ex-House Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada, former Rep. Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna party-list) and ex-presidential spokesperson Harry Roque expressed their support for an equal national minimum wage during a senatorial debate on Sunday.
Currently, minimum wages per region and sector are determined by regional wage boards.
Colmenares said during CNN Philippines' senatorial debate on Sunday that if elected to the Senate, he would support abolishing the regional wage boards.
“Bakit mas mataas ang sahod sa NCR (National Capital Region) and mababa sa mga probinsya (Why are wages higher in the NCR and lower in the provinces)?” Colmenares asked.
Progressive groups have stepped up their calls at the end of 2018 to President Rodrigo Duterte to abolish the RWBs in favor of a national minimum wage, in light of high inflation which impacted the price of goods especially in the third and fourth quarter of last year.
READ: Workers push wage board abolition
House Bill 7787, filed by the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives in 2018, seeks a P750 daily national minimum wage.
The former Bayan Muna party-list representative said he would continue to push for this measure and questioned the rationalization of Metro Manila having the highest minimum wage when in other regions “inflation is even higher, if not the same, in the NCR.”
This is true for some provinces. According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, inflation in Metro Manila hit 7 percent in August while the Bicol region experienced 9 percent inflation and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 8.1 percent.
Although some regions did have inflation rates lower than in Metro Manila like Calabarzon with 6.1 percent and Central Luzon with 3.6 percent.
READ: Infographic: Regional inflation rates in August
“I do not agree with the regionalization of wages, considering how difficult life is in the provinces,” Colmenares, who has yet to place in the “Magic 12” of the senatorial surveys, said in Filipino. “Ilocos is one of the lowest, in fact, P300 plus is the minimum wage in Ilocos.”
According to 2018 data from the PSA, however, it's actually lower than P300 at P280 for non-agricultural jobs and P252 for agricultural workers.
Despite talks to run with the “Otso Diretso” opposition slate, Colmenares ran on his own over differences in the way he and the Liberal Party view agricultural reform. This is his second attempt at a Senate bid.
INTERAKSYON: Why Neri Colmenares is running for Senate for second time
While both Roque and Tañada said they support a national minimum wage, Colmenares was the only one who had an actual figure he is targetting at the P750 daily minimum wage or about P15,000 monthly.
Roque said that while he believes it is the government’s job to protect workers, it was important to study what the “correct” minimum wage is and that it “would not impact investors.”
At least one administration official said he was against the bill mentioned by Colmenares in the forum. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia called the proposal contained in House Bill 7787 “ill-advised as it will further stoke inflation and remain even when inflation normalizes.”
READ: ECOP on national minimum wage: Impossible
Groups representing the interests of the employers like the Employers Confederation of the Philippines said last May they were against the proposal.
“I’m not arguing that there is inflation, but the inflation in every region is different, that’s number one. Number two, the infrastructure development in every region is different as well so how can it be national? If there is no proper infrastructure development in these areas, they will find it hard to find jobs,” Donald Dee, ECOP president, said.
Tañada on the other hand, said he was supportive of a “review” of a wage structure in our country.
“When the price of oil goes up, [it’s] nationwide. When rice goes up, [it’s] nationwide. And also electricity,” the former Quezon representative said.
“Di nag-iiba ang pagtaas ng presyo ng langis kung ikaw ay nasa Region 6, Region 5 or Region 9 (The rising prices of oil are not different whether you’re in Region 6, Region 5 or Region 9),” Tañada said.
“Lahat po iyan apektado sa pagtaas ng mga bilihin (Everyone is affected by the rising costs of goods),” he added.
While the price of necessities did rise nationwide, actual costs varied per region, according to the PSA’s data on inflation.