AN outgoing militant lawmaker yesterday lambasted the P50 wage increase approved by the National Capital Region (NCR) wage board after the House of Representatives and the Senate failed to pass the proposed legislated wage hike.
“Singkwenta, walang kwenta P50 (P50, worthless),” said former Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), stressing that the amount is a “measly and insulting consolation” following the Marcos Jr.’s administration’s failure to pass a legislated wage increase that could have significantly raised workers’ daily pay nationwide.
The labor sector was up in arms over the measly pay increase, saying it is a mere drop in the bucket.
The Partido Manggagawa (PM) said the NCR wage board has provided workers with a “woefully inadequate” pay adjustment.
“The P50/day minimum wage increase, bringing the new minimum wage to P695, is woefully inadequate in addressing the skyrocketing cost of living in Metro Manila. This increase barely makes a dent in the poverty faced by workers,” said PM.
Brosas, principal author of the P750 across-the-board wage increase bill who was a member of the Makabayan bloc in the 19th Congress, said the wage board’s decision is “a cover-up for the government’s inaction on meaningful wage reform.”
“Ang singkwenta ay walang kwenta sa nagtataasang presyo ng bilihin at sunod-sunod na oil price hikes. Ang mumong P50 na ito ay pampalubag-loob matapos patayin ng gobyerno ang legislated wage hike. Hindi ito sapat. Hindi ito makatao (P50 is worthless against the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities and the unabated oil price hikes. This measly P50 is aimed at placating workers after the government killed the legislated wage hike. This is not humane),” she said.
The House earlier blamed the Senate for killing the proposed legislated wage hike bill by refusing to sit down with congressmen to reach a compromise before the 19th Congress adjourned sine die last Wednesday.
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 proposes a P100 increase, half of the House-approved version.
Brosas said wage boards, “which is composed of unelected bureaucrats and employer representatives, cannot be expected to deliver just and substantial increases amid an economic crisis.”
The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) said the wage order is a token wage increase aimed at pacifying the labor sector after the failure to pass the legislated wage hike in the 19th Congress.
“The RTWPBs are scrambling to contain the outrage of millions of minimum wage earners, whose most basic demand for relief was brazenly discarded by Malacañang. This paltry P50 increase is a pathetic attempt to pacify workers—nothing more,” said SENTRO.
Instead of continuously relying on RTWPBs, the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (NAGKAISA) said it is better if the government would pass the proposed legislated wage hike.
“The path is clear: incremental increases are not enough. What Filipino workers truly need is a dignified, just, and progressive wage reform that lifts families out of poverty. Certify as urgent the P200 legislated wage hike,” said NAGKAISA.
The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said the labor sector will surely make a strong push until a provision of decent wages is approved.
“Workers’ unions and associations across the country vow to intensify their campaigns and protests to reach out to the millions of workers and enjoin them to fight for the realization of a living wage for all workers,” said KMU.
P1.2K LIVING WAGE BILL
Gabriela party-list renewed its demand for a P1,200 nationwide “living wage,” which it said will remain a priority bill of the Makabayan bloc in the incoming 20th Congress.
Gabriela and the rest of the Makabayan bloc vowed to continue pushing for a significant and nationwide wage hike and urged workers to “build pressure from the ground up to demand what they rightfully deserve.”
“Ang kailangan natin ay signipikanteng dagdag-sahod, hindi pa-pogi o token increase. Sa kabila ng baryang dagdag-sahod na ito, patuloy tayong nakikiisa sa laban para sa nakabubuhay na sahod para sa lahat (What we need is a significant wage hike, not a publicity stunt or a token increase. Amid this token increase, we continue to join the fight for a living wage for everyone),” Brosas said.
Incoming Rep. Antonio Tinio (PL, ACT), also of the Makabayan bloc, yesterday refiled the Makabayan bloc’s living wage bill, under House Bill No. 202, saying the expected P50 token wage hike was approved in Metro Manila, “which has the highest cost of living in the country.”
“It (P50 wage hike in NCR) does not keep pace with the already sky-high prices of basic necessities, further aggravated by the recent spike in the price of oil. This is why we filed today, my first day as representative, a bill providing a living wage for workers, setting the daily minimum wage nationwide at P1,200,” he said.
He called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify the P1,200 living wage bill as urgent, saying a substantial legislated wage increase “is long overdue given the current economic crisis facing Filipino families.”
“Our Constitution guarantees workers their just share in the fruits of production. It’s time to make this constitutional right a reality through a genuine living wage,” Tinio said.
Tinio said the P50 daily wage increase is “an insult to Filipino workers who continue to struggle with rising prices and stagnant wages.”
“While corporations are raking in record profits and prices of basic commodities continue to soar, our workers are given crumbs,” Tinio said. “This P50 increase is nothing but a band-aid solution to the worsening poverty of Filipino families.”
The Makabayan lawmaker cited IBON Foundation data that the current P645 minimum wage in Metro Manila represents only 52.8 percent of the P1,222 family living wage needed in the region. Tinio said the new P695 rate “will still fall far short of what families need to survive with dignity.”
Tinio said the 36-year-old regional wage board system “has failed Filipino workers, allowing wages to stagnate while the cost of living has skyrocketed.”
“Workers have seen their purchasing power continuously eroded. The real value of the Metro Manila minimum wage has fallen to just P518 when measured at 2018 prices,” Rep. Tinio explained. “Meanwhile, the top 1000 corporations saw their combined net income surge 121.5% to P1.82 trillion in 2021.”
Tinio said large corporations “can easily afford” substantial wage increases, noting that major companies like PLDT saved P900 million from the CREATE Act’s tax incentives without passing these savings to workers.
“The needed wage increase to reach P1,200 only requires 29.7 percent to 49.1 percent of the profits amassed by private employers. Kaya nila ito, ayaw lang nila (They can shoulder it. They just don’t want to),” he said.
‘NOT ENOUGH’
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada yesterday said the P50 wage increase is not enough.
“Let’s get real. The current minimum wage of workers in the private sector is somewhere (from) P361 to P645 and is not enough for a family to cope with their everyday expenses,” Estrada said in Filipino.
He said the Senate passed on third and final reading in February last year the legislated wage increase to give P100 a day to workers, since it was based on consultations with various stakeholders.
He said it would be best if the government gives the workers a wage increase that can surely help the families, and not just to appease them.
He said any wage increase can help, but P50 is not enough.
“Our people deserve more,” he added.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said the P50-a-day wage increase is good, but it should be based on providing a decent living wage to workers.
“But at the end of the day, we wanted to make sure that the basis would be the living wage. Ang batayan ay hindi lamang itaas ang sweldo, kung hindi doon sa batayan na magkaroon naman ng disenteng buhay ang ating manggagawa (The basis should not be just to implement a wage increase but rather for workers to have a decent living),” he added.
ECOP RESPONSE
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said it will respect and support the decision of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the National Capital Region (NCR) to increase the daily minimum wage of workers in the region by P50.
“We’re not happy sometimes, but we have to convince our members to comply,” said Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of ECOP.
Ortiz-Luis said Wage Order 26 will be an extra expense that will surely hurt micro and small enterprises, which comprise a big chunk of the industries, especially in NCR.
ECOP members are mostly medium to large companies, which account for just 2 percent of the enterprises in the country, he added.
“We will support it because it went through the process… and it has been calibrated. It’s certainly lower than the P100 being sought earlier but then the wage board came up with a formula based on inflation for a certain period to justify the P50 (increase),” Ortiz-Luis said.
The decision, he said, is proof that wage boards are still the best platform for determining adjustments rather than through legislation.
Ortiz-Luis said with this recent wage order, there is no reason why the Senate should push the P100 wage increase it previously approved under Senate Bill 2534.
This increase is on top of the P35 approved in 2024 and P40 in 2023 or a total of P125 in the past three years.
“That’s more than what the Senate is asking for,” he added. – With Raymond Africa and Irma Isip
