Senate to pass bill on P150 wage hike

MANILA, Philippines — Despite warnings from employers about business closures and consequent job losses, the Senate aims to pass in June a bill granting an across-the-board daily minimum wage hike of P150, claiming it would improve worker productivity, reduce crime and provide long-term economic benefits.

The committee on labor and employment, chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, approved in principle the measure at the close of the first and last hearing on the wage hike bills that are supported by labor organizations but resisted by business groups, which cited lingering economic effects of the pandemic on the financial viability of most companies in the country.

“We expect that the committee report will come out in about two weeks, and we hope to pass the bill before we adjourn in June,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri told reporters after the hearing.

Zubiri and Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda are authors of Senate Bill 2002 that seeks to legislate a P150 increase in the daily minimum wage while Sen. Bong Revilla filed SB 2018.

The committee also took up bills authored Sen. Raffy Tulfo and Estrada, seeking a review of labor and wage policies and Republic Act 6267 or the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989, which created the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards.