MANILA – Militant party-list group Bayan Muna called on President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday to prioritize its proposal to increase the national minimum daily wage to P750.
Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and other members of the Makabayan bloc filed House Bill 7787 which sought the pay raise to “ease the suffering of Filipinos affected by the newly implemented TRAIN Law.”
“The minimum wage must be reverted back to a national wage standard,” Zarate said. “Almost all prices of basic goods and services being traded in all regions are similar nationwide. Some are even higher in regions outside of National Capital Region because of the transportation cost.”
The current national minimum daily wage is P512.
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law eliminated income tax from annual incomes of up to P250,000 but raised excise taxes on fuel, which critics said led to increases in the prices of commodities.
“It is gravely wrong to peg as lower the standard of living of regions outside Metro Manila because it is not reflective of the real situation,” said Zarate.
If passed, the measure will increase the daily statutory minimum wages of private sector workers in both agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises nationwide to the uniform P750.
The bill also sought the abolition of the National Wages and Productivity Commission and its 17 Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards, which were mandated to fix and regulate minimum wage in the provinces.
Its enactment into law would require a yearly adjustment of the minimum wage. The measure also mandates stiffer fines for employers who fail to pay the minimum wage.
“It is high time for us to abolish wage rationalization,” said Rep. Sarah Elago of Kabataan party-list. “It’s a big joke to say that prices of goods and services are cheaper when you live in the province when, in fact, prices do not change, and sometimes prices are higher in regions outside Metro Manila.”
Aside from Zarate and Elago, other author-representatives are ACT-Teachers’ Antonio Tinio and France Castro, Gabriela’s Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas, and Anakpawis’ Ariel Casilao.
Raising the minimum wage will help workers “cope with the surging prices of goods and services” as a result of the TRAIN Law, Zarate further said.
“The wages of our workers have long been stunted and [their] purchasing power gravely diminished,” said Zarate. “This amount is still short of the P1,168 needed daily to support a family of six as of March this year, based on a study by the think tank IBON Foundation.”
Based on the same study, the P512 minimum wage in the National Capital Region was just 43.8 percent of the P1,168 family living wage, said the lawmaker.
“Wala na pong ihihigpit pa ang sinturon ng mga manggagawa at consumers at kailangan na talaga ng P750 pambansang minimum wage para mabawasan naman ang kahirapan nila,” he said. (With Adrian Stewart Co/PN)
