P200 wage hike floated after House, labor meet
- Workers may see an increase in their minimum daily wage by as much as P200 — if the House makes good on its promise to speed up deliberations on a legislated hike following a meeting between House and labor leaders.
- Speaker Romualdez stresses the urgency of a meaningful wage adjustment, citing the continuing increase in the cost of essential goods and services.
- He says a legislated wage hike can act as an “economic catalyst” by boosting household spending, stimulating local economies and driving long-term growth.
Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed on Wednesday that the House of Representatives would speed up its deliberation on a minimum daily wage hike measure, which he said would strike a balance between the workers’ needs and employers’ interests.
Romualdez issued the statement after he, along with Deputy Speaker Democrito Raymond Mendoza and Assistant Majority Leader Jude Acidre, met on Tuesday night with labor leaders at the House to get their inputs on the clamor for a legislated wage hike.
The Leyte lawmaker said the House was looking at a P200 legislated daily wage increase to provide employees economic relief while ensuring the sustainability of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“This is a critical step toward achieving inclusive growth and addressing the immediate challenges faced by Filipino families,” Romualdez said in a statement.
He stressed the urgency of a meaningful wage adjustment, citing the continuing increase in the cost of essential goods and services.
Inflation quickened to 2.9 percent in December, faster than the 2.5 percent recorded in November, due to higher prices of housing and energy, according to figures released by the Philippine Statistics Authority earlier this month.
Romualdez noted that the last legislated wage increase was enacted more than three decades ago under the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989.
“If we were able to do this in the past, there is no reason why we cannot do it now, especially with careful planning and collaboration with all sectors,” he said.
He pointed out that the consensus at the House, pending ongoing public consultation, “is that we could probably increase by P200 the daily minimum wage.”
‘Economic catalyst’
Romualdez also highlighted the economic benefits of a wage increase, including boosting household spending, stimulating local economies, and driving long-term growth.
He said that in the Philippines, where consumer spending accounts for a substantial portion of the gross domestic product (GDP), “a wage hike can act as an economic catalyst.”
“A well-designed wage hike is not just an immediate solution to help workers cope with inflation, it is an investment in our collective future,” he added.
Makabayan bloc lawmakers welcomed the Speaker’s pronouncement as “a step in the right direction,” although they maintained that P200 was not enough considering their draft measure which sought a P750 across-the-board salary increase in the private sector to afford workers a family living wage.
“We welcome any step towards increasing workers’ wages, as this positive development stems from our workers’ persistent demands for a legislated wage increase,” said Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas.
Inflationary move
Reacting to the Speaker’s statement, the head of the country’s biggest umbrella group of employers said they were strongly against this latest attempt at a legislated wage hike.
“Even the President said it should be left to the wage board to determine this. That is the most balanced way to do it,” Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) President Sergio Ortiz-Luis told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
“This will just make investors hesitate more with the uncertainty it creates. And we are already lagging behind our neighbors in terms of investments,” he noted.
The Ecop official warned that a P200 wage hike would be a major contributor to inflation.
He stressed that a legislated wage increase would benefit only the formal sector, which he said accounts for around 16 percent of the country’s 52 million-strong workforce.
This means the remaining 84 percent of workers, those in the informal sector such as farmers and jeepney drivers, would deal with the resulting consequences of higher inflation, Ortiz-Luis added.
In July 2024, a wage hike of P35 for Metro Manila private sector workers was approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board. It took effect on July 17, 2024.
The increase brought the daily minimum wage in the region to P645 from P610 for the non-agriculture sector; and to P608 from P573 for the agriculture sector, service, and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers.
Rising cost of living
In their meeting with Romualdez, labor leaders noted that the last legislated wage hike was enacted in 1989, or 36 years ago, and called on the Speaker prioritize the passage of this historic measure “as an emergency response to the cost-of-living crisis faced by every Filipino worker and their family in the face of big-time oil, rice, power, and even fare hike and record-high self-rated poverty, and hunger.”
In a joint statement after the meeting, the TUCP, FFW and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) said Romualdez “positively responded to the workers’ calls and expressed his strong support and commitment to prioritize and accelerate the immediate passage of the proposed legislated daily wage hike.”
They said the lawmaker “even express[ed] willingness to go beyond the ₱150 increase to better address chronic malnutrition, stunting, and poverty and ultimately ensure a more dignified life for Filipino workers and their families.”
Mendoza filed in April 2023 House Bill No. 7871 calling for a P150 across-the-board “wage recovery increase” in the salary rates of private sector workers “in light of the stubbornly high inflation that continues to erode the purchasing power of wages across the regions.” —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
