Wage hike bill not LEDAC’s priority — Escudero

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said Monday the measures seeking an increase in the daily minimum wage of workers is not a priority of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

The version of the legislated P200 wage hike approved by the House of Representatives offers a higher increase than the P100 approved by the Senate.

“Ang pinasa ng Kamara ay, ayan na naman sila, P200 across the board huling linggo ng aming sesyon ni hindi kasama’y binanggit sa LEDAC. Ba’t ba ang hilig hilig nilang sa mga ganyan,” Escudero said. 

(The House passed the P200 across the board in the last week of our session and it was not even discussed in the LEDAC. Why do they even like to do such things?) 

“Ipapasa pa lang nila ‘yan ba’t hindi brining up sa LEDAC para napag usapan na? Hindi ba? Siguro naman hindi ito maliit na bagay para hindi mabanggit o mapagusapan. Ano ‘to napag isipan lamang pagkatapos ng LEDAC?”

(If they would approve that, why didn’t they bring it up during the LEDAC so we could have discussed it? I believe it's not a small matter for them not to mention or talk about it. Did they only think about that after the LEDAC?) 

Escudero said there will be a bicameral conference once the Senate receives the copy of the House bill that was passed on third and final reading on Wednesday, June 4. 

However, he pointed out that it is still unclear whether or not the Senate would adopt the House bill or they would compromise on the amount so as to not impact the economy.

“If you remember the Senate Bill providing for a P100 across the board wage increase, marami kaming in-exempt para maprotektahan ‘yung maliliit talaga, ‘yUng micro and small industries na hindi kakayanin maski na P100,” the senate president said. 

(If you remember the Senate Bill providing for a P100 across the board wage increase, we have exempted a lot in order to protect the small businesses, the micro and small industries that cannot afford even the P100 wage increase.) 

Labor groups Partido Manggagawa and the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition on Monday morning trooped to the Senate, calling for the immediate convening of the bicameral committee to come up with a final version of the measure of the wage hike. 

“We demand that Congress proceed forthwith with organizing the bicam for a final version of the legislated wage increase,” Partido Manggagawa secretary general Judy Miranda said. 

“The P200 wage hike is not excessive but responds appropriately to the wage recovery demand and workers’ just share in the fruits of production. Rigorous research belies the black propaganda and blackmail of employers against wage hikes,” she added. 

The House and the Senate have until June 13 or the last session day of the 19th Congress to reconcile their differing versions of the wage hike measure and ratify the reconciled version for the bill to be ready for the President’s signature. Otherwise, the bill has to be refiled next Congress.

Malacañang said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will look into the economic implications of the proposed increase in the minimum wage hike. —RF, GMA Integrated News