SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday said he will talk to President Marcos Jr. to convince him to support the proposed legislated wage increase of workers nationwide.
In an interview with dzBB, Zubiri said he will talk to the President to explain the benefits of a legislated wage increase of P150 a day in all regions across the board since the present P570 minimum wage in Metro Manila is really not enough for workers to have a decent life.
He said he will also talk to House Speaker Martin Romualdez regarding the same concern.
The last legislated wage increase of P89 was on July 1, 1989.
“Of course, I will also talk to the President and tell him that this is good for his administration. You know the President has a soft heart. And I think he can also see the hardships the workers have to bear,” Zubiri said.
Zubiri has appealed to the country’s big corporations to support the proposed legislated wage hike since workers have been badly affected by the rising inflation rate.
Besides, he added, corporations have been announcing that they have recovered their losses from the lockdowns due to the pandemic, and sharing a portion of their billions of earnings will not leave a dent on their wealth.
Zubiri said he has seen interviews of workers on TV news reports that they are having a hard time making both ends meet with the P570 daily minimum wage.
However, there were also reports which said that a number of companies are against Zubiri’s proposal, with some even threatening to close down their businesses since they cannot afford to give the P150 daily wage increase, which roughly translates to an increase of about P3,000 a month per worker.
“Imagine, if you have five children, how will you survive with P570? So, I will appeal to the President on that point. And you know legislation is the art of compromise, kailangan ding mag-compromise, magkaroon ng deliberations, bicam. ‘Yung Senate will have its stand, ‘yung House will have its stand and hopefully maipasa nila iyon (there should be compromise. There should be deliberations, bicam. The Senate will have its stand, the House will have its stand and hopefully it can pass a similar measure),” he said.
Once the House passes its version of the proposed measure, Zubiri said both chambers will have to agree to a reasonable wage increase during the bicameral conference committee meeting.
“My point is, now is the time. If we don’t do it our workers will surely suffer more. Most of them will go abroad to work, that’s why we often have debates on nurses, skilled workers who leave the country to work abroad. They will not work abroad if they earn a decent living wage in the country,” he added.
