SENATORS have begun panel deliberations on bills proposing a legislated wage hike, to help pandemic-stricken households recover more quickly than if they relied solely on regional wage boards that Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri had earlier described as being too slow and too thrifty in giving workers relief.
Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, who chairs the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources, presided at a hearing on the proposed legislated across-the-board wage hike and other measures regarding the implementation of wage increases in the private sector.
The objective is to improve the system being implemented in the country today, especially since no wage increase was implemented following the outbreak of Covid-19, he explained. “During these times, no wage increases have been implemented, but the constant call for wages that will truly meet the basic needs of the Filipino family cannot be denied,” the senator said in Filipino.
In his opening remarks at the start of hearing, Estrada recalled that “in 2022, all the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) issued Wage Orders to increase the minimum daily wages in their respective regions. These Wage Orders were issued in the month of May and June last year.”
The last legislated wage hike implemented in the country was in 1989, with the enactment of Republic Act No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, but “since then,” the task of determining wage hikes has been reposed in RTWPBs which has representatives from the government, private sector and labor.
Currently, two bills filed by senators propose a P150 daily across-the-board wage increase.”
Besides this, the hearings “will also discuss the pieces of legislation that aim to improve the system being implemented in the country today,” according to Estrada.
The Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma. Also at the hearing, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva backed a decent wage increase for Filipino workers, saying the present minimum wage in the country is not enough for a family to live decently.
Villanueva cited the current daily minimum wage ranging from P306 to P570. According to a study of the IBON Foundation, a Filipino family of five in the National Capital Region (NCR) needs at least P1,161 daily or P25,248 monthly to have a decent life.
“The high inflation rate juxtaposed with the minimum wage further reduces the purchasing power of Filipino workers. With a high inflation rate of 6.6 percent in April 2023, the value of real income has failed to meet the rising cost of living,” Villanueva stressed.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo, for his part, said it is high time that the minimum wage of workers is increased amid rising prices of goods and commodities in the country. He compared the current salary rates against the estimated P1,161 living wage for families in National Capital Region where minimum wage is highest at P570.
“The minimum wage we now have is extremely inadequate. Many of our laborers have long been suffering,” Tulfo said in Filipino. The senator also appealed for a more efficient and stringent implementation of labor laws against exploitative employers.
Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. pushed for a recalibration and reassessment of present wage policies to help laborers. “The salaries being received by workers are way behind government’s conservative estimate of the cost of living a family needs in order to survive in these trying economic times,” Revilla said.