THE House of Representatives yesterday accused the Senate of killing the bill seeking to increase the minimum wage of private sector workers by refusing to sit down with congressmen to reach a compromise before the 19th Congress adjourned sine die last Wednesday.
House spokesman Princess Abante made the statement after the 19th Congress ended without ratifying the wage hike bill, which was supposed to be up for bicameral deliberations with senators, whose approved version of the bill only proposed a P100 increase, half of the House-approved version.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it — the Senate killed the P200 wage hike bill,” Abante said. “Last night was the final session of the 19th Congress. No bicam. No compromise. No wage hike. And the reason is simple: ‘Ayaw ng Senado makipag-usap. Gusto nila, tanggapin na lang nang buo ang P100 nila. Bakit? Bakit binabarya ng Senado ang mga manggagawa? (The Senate doesn’t want to talk. They want the House to just accept their P100 proposal. Why? Why is the Senate giving workers a pittance?),” she said in a statement.
The House last Monday transmitted to the Senate House Bill (HB) No. 11376 or the “Wage Hike for Minimum Wage Workers Act,” after it was approved on third and final reading with an overwhelming vote of 171 in favor, one against and no abstentions.
The Senate approved its version of the P100 legislated wage hike as early as February 2024.
In a letter to Senate Committee on Labor Chair Sen. Joel Villanueva last Wednesday, House Committee on Labor and Employment Chairman Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles raised the urgency to pass the measure, warning that failure to act would leave millions of Filipino workers “with nothing—despite months of effort and public expectation.”
“The House of Representatives acted swiftly and decisively,” Nograles said. “We passed our version of the bill on third reading, submitted the names of our conferees in advance, and have since stood ready to enter into bicameral discussions with our Senate counterparts.”
Nograles pointed out that the Senate only named its bicam conferees last Tuesday night, “limiting the already narrow window for bicameral discussions and ratification.”
“If we fail to deliver today, there is a very real danger that our workers will be left with nothing,” Nograles said.
Abante said the House bicam contingent was fully prepared to meet with senators to reconcile the differing versions of the bill, “but the Senate’s inaction left them dumbfounded.”
“Tumaas ang kilay ng bicam conferees namin nang tanungin kung ano ang nangyari (Our bicam conferees raised their eyebrows when asked what happened). They were ready to sit down, defend the P200 proposal, and fight for labor — only to find out the Senate had no intention of meeting at all,” she said.
“We were ready to deliberate. We came in good faith. But what the Senate gave us was a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum. Wala silang balak makipag-usap. Gusto nila, sunod lang kami (They had to plans to talk. They wanted us to just follow what they want). That’s not how democracy works. That’s not how we serve the people,” Abante added.
Because of valid concerns raised, Abante pointed out that the House-approved version exempts and provides for safety nets for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), “proving it was both pro-labor and economically responsible.”
“This was not a reckless proposal. It was a responsible, well-considered measure. But instead of dialogue, ang ibinalik sa amin ay tahimik na pagtanggi at pagmamadali (what came back to us was silent refusal and haste),” Abante said.
‘NOTHING’
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said the upper chamber did all it could to convince the House of Representatives to adopt the Senate version of the bill giving workers a legislated P100 daily minimum wage increase, but nothing happened.
“Mr. President, I just want to put on record that the Senate has stood up and fought for these sectors. Unfortunately, our friends in the House have not been very accommodating on this issue. As a member of the bicam, I believe that they don’t want to discuss anything unless we adopt the P200 per day. We all know that the businessmen cannot afford,” Zubiri said in plenary before the Senate went on a sine die adjournment Wednesday night.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said he even wrote a letter to Rep. Juan Fidel Nograles, chairman of the House committee on labor and employment, appealing that the House adopt the Senate version of the bill.
“I write to respectfully appeal to the House of Representatives to adopt Senate Bill No. 2534 of the ‘P100 Daily Minimum Wage Increase Act of 2024,’ as approved by the Senate on third reading as early as February 19, 2024, in substitute of House Bill No. 11376, as approved by the House on third reading on June 4, 2025,” Villanueva said in the letter dated June 10, 2025.
Villanueva said they are “cognizant of the fact” that there has been no legislated wage increase since 1989, but giving in to the P200-a-day proposal of the House will have adverse effects on businesses.
“The Senate’s version of the bill, which took into consideration the existing socio-economic conditions and positions of various sectors, may be a more widely-acceptable position to take…We appeal to the House of Representatives to adopt the Senate version of the measure,” he added.
Zubiri said he was “disheartened” that the House did not want to negotiate.
“If we adopt the P200 minimum wage bill, the President will veto it. Definitely, that will be vetoed. And if it will be vetoed, we torpedo the measure and it looks bad on everyone,” he added.
‘COORDINATED BETRAYAL’
Workers are up in arms over the failure of the 19th Congress to pass the proposed wage hike bill before going into sine die adjournment on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) slammed Congress and President Marcos Jr. for working together to derail the passage of the legislated wage hike.
“As we feared, the wage hike bill is dead. All that’s left is the death certificate,” said SENTRO.
“This is a coordinated betrayal of the working class. Once again, we are reminded: this is class war — and the ruling class is still winning,” it added.
The labor sector said House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Chiz Escudero should be considered as the “riding in tandem” that delivered the “final nail in the coffin” for the legislated wage hike.
“The House rejected the Senate version and called for a so-called ‘deliberative bicam process’, while fully aware that there’s no time left. Let’s call it what it is: the final nail in the coffin,” said SENTRO.
“Malacañang’s economic team confirmed this when they released a position paper parroting employer scare tactics, dressed up in pseudo-scientific jargon. That was the final signal — a green light to Congress to kill the bill,” said SENTRO. – With Raymond Africa and Gerard Naval
