Lawmakers split on wage hike bill

The House of Representatives is divided on the bill that seeks an increase of P125 in the minimum daily wage, Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said yesterday.

"Many members feel that it will cause the closure of business establishments, particularly the small and medium ones. They want to debate and question the wisdom of a legislated hike at length," he said.

He said his colleagues want the regional wage boards to do their job now and fix wages.

"They also want a quorum whenever the P125 wage hike bill is taken up," he added.

The regional wage boards have been ordered by President Arroyo to grant increases in their regions before month’s end.

Lawmakers pushing for a legislated wage increase achieved a feat of sorts on Tuesday night when they finally succeeded in sponsoring the bill. It was the first time in at least 10 years — since the 10th Congress — that a wage hike measure reached the plenary sponsorship stage.

Nograles said the bill will now go through a long process of debates and amendments before it is passed on second reading, and finally, on third reading.

He said at every turn of the process, a quorum has to be present or the measure won’t move.

"That is the rule. There has to be a quorum. It’s not a question of the majority blocking this bill, as alleged by some quarters," he added.

He pointed out that the majority bloc is not impeding the approval of the measure.

"The fact that we have a member (Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman) who is a co-author of the bill is proof of that," he said.

Earlier, Nograles refused to predict the outcome of the deliberations on the wage hike bill.

"I cannot control how the 236 members will vote. Let every one of them make a judgment call," he said.

Employers regard the proposed P125-a-day wage increase sought by militant labor groups and the P75 adjustment proposed by the not-so-militant as too big. They are offering something in the range of P30 to P50.

Until Tuesday night, attempts by authors of the wage hike bill to start sponsorship and debates on the measure have been blunted by the majority, whose members questioned the quorum instead of the minority, as had often been the practice.

Minority members have vowed not to raise the quorum question while the bill is up for discussion.