SEN. Joseph Victor Ejercito yesterday said he sees no need for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify the passage of the refiled legislated wage bill, noting that all the needed data was discussed and incorporated in the measure that was approved in the 19th Congress.
In an interview with radio dzBB, Ejercito said the bill was passed by both houses of Congress but was not ratified since the bicameral conference committee failed to iron out the differing amounts of increase to be granted to minimum wage earners in the private sector.
The Senate passed a P100 daily minimum legislated wage bill as early as February last year, while the House of Representatives passed a P200 a day wage hike days before the 19th Congress adjourned.
The bill was not ratified since the Senate said that P200 a day may be too much for businesses to afford. Both houses failed to come up with a compromise amount, thus the bill was not ratified.
Ejercito said the bill will be smoothly passed in the 20th Congress if their counterparts in the House are “serious” in passing it.
“So, more than one year and a half has passed, doon po nila pinasa. So, sana kung talagang seryoso po talaga ang ating counterparts, noong 2024 pa lang, nagpasa na sila. Hindi na kinakailangang i-certify, we would have passed it right away
(So, more than one and a half years have passed since they [House] passed it. So, maybe if our counterparts were serious, they could have passed it last year. There is no need for the President to certify its passage as urgent; we would have it right away),” he said.
Ejercito questioned the House’s apparent slow-paced passage of the measure, noting the same was done when the House transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate on the last day of the regular session last February 5.
“Bakit last minute lagi? Ang daming oras, ang daming panahon. ‘Yung impeachment… mula December pa lang pero bakit noong last minute doon nila pinasa? So hopefully this time around hindi na po maulit ‘yan. Kung talagang seryoso, ngayon pa lamang let’s get back to work. First week pa lang, dapat may hearing na kaagad ‘yan kung talagang seryoso po (Why do they always do something at the last minute? There was plenty of time. The impeachment… they received the complaints as early as December last year, but why did they transmit it to the Senate at the last minute?… Hopefully, this time around, that won’t happen again. If they are serious, we should get back to work on the first week when regular sessions of the 20th Congress formally open),” he said.
Since all the data have been debated and incorporated in the bills filed in the 19th Congress, Ejercito said “it will be easier for us to pass” it in the 20th Congress.
“Kahit isang committee hearing lang ‘yan, puwede nang i-prepare ang committee report agad, tapos ipasa na sa plenary kaagad ‘’yan. So, I don’t think there’s a need to be certified. Kasing kung talagang seryoso ang both houses, then we can pass it as soon as possible, even without the certification (We can prepare the committee report and pass it on the plenary even after one committee hearing. So, I don’t think there’s a need for it to be certified as urgent because if only both houses are serious in passing it, then we can pass it as soon as possible, even without the certification),” he added.
He said the legislated wage bill can be included as one of the priority measures in the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to ensure its passage.
“Siguro maganda ‘yan kung masasama sa priority legislation ng LEDAC….Kung seryoso din ang ating administrasyon, isasama po talaga rin sa LEDAC ‘yan (Maybe it’s better if that will be included in the priority legislation of LEDAC…If the administration is serious, that will be included in the LEDAC),” he said.
