THE Senate is poised to hold a series of public hearings in aid of remedial legislation creating a new National Wages and Productivity Commission to replace existing Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs).
The abolition of the regional boards and creation of a new commission was proposed in a bill filed by Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito to more effectively “address regional wage distortions.”
Ejercito’s Senate Bill (SB) 2205 is expected be promptly referred to the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development Committee as soon as Congress reconvenes plenary sessions on May 20.
Chaired by Sen. Joel Villanueva, the Labor Committee will then hold public hearings before elevating SB 2205 for plenary consideration.
To be known as “An Act Amending Presidential Decree 442, as Amended, Otherwise Known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, and Providing for the Rationalization of Wage Levels on a National of Industrial Basis,” the proposed commission will function primarily to “determine and fix” national wage rates according to industries and issue corresponding wage orders, Ejercito said.
He cited a 2018 World Bank Report that noted the pace of poverty reduction in the country “has been slow” despite the “generally good economic performance.”
The senator stressed this makes a review of the wage structure “not only urgent but imperative,” noting that higher wages are “among the most fundamental dimensions for inclusive growth aside from job creation. He also invoked the 1987 Constitution guarantees’ full protection to labor and warrants that workers shall be entitled to security of tenure, human working conditions and living wages. “However, reality reneges against the policy declaration in the Constitution,” he noted.
Ejercito pointed out that the regional tripartite wage boards created under Republic Act 6727, also known as the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989, were mandated to study, fix and raise wages on a regional level based on poverty threshold, employment rate and cost of living specific to the region.
“However, this has been seen as ineffective since wage distortions have emerged in different regions,” the senator said, adding: “The RTWPBs have failed to ensure decent standard of living for the Filipino workers in different regions of the country.”