Senate labor panel to hear bills on minimum wage hike on May 10

The Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development will tackle the bills seeking to increase the minimum wage in the country on May 10, Senator Jinggoy Estrada said Monday.

Estrada, who chairs the committee, announced it during the celebration of the 121st Labor Day in the Philippines.

Among the measures that are expected to be tackled are the bill seeking to reform the system of increasing the minimum wage, the bill seeking to provide P150 across the board wage increase and the bill amending the Wage Rationalization Act, which will impose penalties against employers who do not follow the daily wage increases.

“Hindi man naihabol ngayong taon kasabay ng pagdiriwang ng Labor Day ang panawagang legislated wage increase, makakaasa ang publiko na gugulong na sa Senado ang mga inihaing panukalang batas,” Estrada said.

“We will listen to the comments and inputs from the tripartite sectors: labor, employer, and government, and look forward to a mutually beneficial result for both workers and employers,” he added.

In a television interview, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said it is high time to review the minimum wage in all regions, noting that the cost of living in the rural areas is now higher.

“We have right now a decentralized system where we have regional wage boards. But then, even if you look at the region which has the highest daily wage already, if you look at that amount, you can still question whether that amount is sufficient for a daily wage earner with a family of total number of five even in the other regions where the cost of living is supposed to be cheaper,” Pimentel said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

“So it’s really time to review the amounts and then a legislated minimum wage can live side by side with our decentralized system,” he added.

Since there is no announcement from the administration on increasing the minimum wage, Pimentel said the best it can do is to express support to legislated wage hikes.

Further, the senator said the government must be “more imaginative” when it comes to the needs of the employees because the reality is that life is very difficult these days.

The lawmaker also stressed the need to tackle the bills on minimum wage hike to ensure that the salaries of the employees are “decent” enough to support their families.

In a separate statement, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri echoed his call for better wage, benefits and protection for workers.

“Alam kong napakahalaga nito lalo na at patuloy na tumataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin at bayarin, na kahit na pagpaguran ng isang manggagawa ang kanyang full-time na trabaho, minsan ay hindi na rin sapat ang pasahod dito para suportahan ang kanyang pamilya,” said Zubiri.

“Kailangan nating i-angat ang ating mga manggagawa, at siguruhin na nakukuha nila ang tamang sahod na pinagpapaguran nila. Ang mga manggagawa ang pundasyon ng buong business sector, at kung wala sila, babagsak ang ating ekonomiya at ang ating bansa. Kaya ibigay natin kung ano ang nararapat sa kanila,” he added.

In March, Zubiri filed Senate Bill 2002 which proposed a P150.00 across the board increase in the minimum wage of workers in the private sector to cover food, water, fuel, electricity, clothing, transportation, rent, communications, and other personal needs. —KBK, GMA Integrated News