Senate rallies behind legislated wage hike; House to proceed with 'caution'

MANILA, Philippines — Buoyed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s order to review the minimum wage rates in all regions, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday urged the president to tag as urgent a bill that legislates a P100 minimum wage hike for all private sector workers.

Zubiri said that the proposed P100 Daily Minimum Wage Increase Act — which the upper chamber passed on final reading in February — is "the best gift that the President can give to all our workers."

"Perhaps it can even be certified as urgent, given the continued spike in the prices of goods owing to inflation," said Zubiri, who is also the primary author of Senate Bill 2534.

The senator also reminded the House of Representatives that it is now up to them to inch the proposed legislated wage hike forward.  

"All we need is the House counterpart measure, and this will be immediately felt across the sector," said Zubiri.

House lawmakers, which have been cool to the Senate's proposed wage hike bills, have meanwhile vowed to "carefully" review the measure.

House to follow 'process' 

Bills proposing to increase workers' pay rates have stalled for years in Congress and are usually met with resistance from economists and groups representing both big and small businesses. 

Wage hike bills are typically opposed by business groups that cite its possible impact on micro, small and medium enterprises but championed by laborers seeking a respite from soaring prices. 

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said in his Labor Day message that the P100 wage increase would "pave the way for the living wage we are promoting as the standard for setting wages." 
 
Senators Koko Pimentel and Sonny Angara also welcomed the president's directive to the regional wage boards. However, Pimentel said that a legislated wage hike would better address workers' needs instead of waiting for regional boards to approve a new rate.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers said in a press conference on Thursday that they will be "carefully" deliberating wage hike proposals as they remain open to calls for a higher nationwide pay rate.

Rep. Faustino Dy (Isabela, 6th District) said "there’s clearly a process for something as difficult to tackle as the wage increase."

Dy added that the House will be deliberating the proposed legislated wage hike at the committee-level, where they expert to hear the sides of all stakeholders, including labor organizers and unions, to arrive at a "more sustainable solution."

Rep. Jude Acidre (Tingog Party-list) said that lawmakers want to be "careful... as the wage hike issue is a sensitive one, even more so when the economy is not faring well."

"We're not saying it's not an option now, but we are listening to all sectors. We want workers' wages to increase, but at the same time we don't want businesses to close and for employers to no longer be able to offer jobs," Acidre said in Filipino.

Without specifying their position on calls for the president to tag as urgent the proposed P100 wage hike, Acidre said that there is a process that needs to be followed for tagging measures as urgent.

"Based on our rules, the president can only tag a bill as urgent when it has arrived at the plenary... For now, the process of legislating wage hike is still at the committee level," Acidre said.