House wage bill gains pace but sked tight
A day after Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed to expedite legislation raising the minimum wage, the House committee on labor and employment on Thursday approved a bill mandating a P200 across-the-board increase for workers in the private sector.
Deputy Speaker Democrito Raymond Mendoza, who represents the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) in the chamber, said Congress may be on the “brink of making history” as it would be the first legislated wage increase in 36 years.
At the start of Thursday’s hearing, committee chair Rizal Rep. Juan Fidel Felipe Nograles said: “At long last, after four hearings and more than eight months, we are going to decide and deliberate on the committee report and the substitute bill to our legislated wage increases, specifically House Bill Nos. 514, 7568, 7871 and 10319.”
The bills, which call for wage hikes in the private sector, were filed by Representatives Mendoza, Arlene Brosas (Gabriela), France Castro (ACT Teachers), Raoul Manuel (Kabataan), Ramon Jolo Revilla III (Cavite) and Eddie Villanueva (Cibac).
HB 514 and HB 7871 sought a P150 across-the-board increase, HB 7568 called for P750 for all private sector workers, while HB 10319 pushed for a P100 adjustment.
Tight schedule
HB 10319’s proposed increase of P100 was similar to that of Senate Bill No. 2534, which was approved by the senators on third and final reading in February last year.
The four measures were consolidated under an unnumbered substitute bill, titled P200 Daily Across-the-Board Wage Increase Act.
Congress, however, needs to hurry as it is scheduled to go on a break from Feb. 8 to June 1 for the May 12 midterm elections. It will resume session on June 2, with the sine die adjournment set on June 14.
The wage hike measure and corresponding committee report will be forwarded to the House committee on rules, which will calendar the bill for second reading and plenary deliberation.
In a statement, Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña urged House colleagues to fast-track the passage of the P200 wage hike bill. He also asked President Marcos to make the bill a priority.
Senate President Francis Escudero on Thursday expressed openness to work with the House to harmonize the bills coming from the two chambers.
In a statement, Escudero said the Senate would monitor the House deliberations on its bill in anticipation of bicameral discussions, with the Senate pushing for a P100 increase.
“Although we have only nine session days left, I welcome the openness of the House at this time to passing this Senate-initiated measure,” he said.
“I will instruct the relevant committee secretaries to monitor the House hearings so the members of the Senate can be kept abreast,” Escudero added.
Meanwhile, Mendoza allayed fears among employers over the proposed wake hike.
Long overdue
“In 1989 Congress raised the minimum wage by 40 percent yet there was no massive inflation. There were two coup d’etats in 1989, economic fundamentals were so bad during the time of (President) Cory Aquino. But there was no wave of unemployment, no collapse of businesses,” Mendoza noted.
He said a P200 daily wage increase was “long overdue” and “much-deserved” by Filipino workers as it would “lift over 5 million minimum wage earners out of poverty, put nutritious food on their table, send their children to school, and give them a fighting chance for a better life to overcome hardships and attain prosperity.”
Nagkaisa Labor Coalition chair and Federation of Free Workers president Sonny Matula added that the proposed P200 wage increase would be “a much-needed and long-overdue relief for workers.” —WITH REPORTS FROM MELVIN GASCON AND JEROME ANING
