House eyes increasing proposed daily wage hike from P150 to P200

The House of Representatives is considering increasing the proposed daily wage hike from P150 to P200, Speaker Martin Romualdez announced on Wednesday.

The amount was the consensus reached during a closed-door meeting late Tuesday between House leaders and major labor groups, including the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Associated Labor Unions, and the Federation of Free Workers, among others.

"The emerging consensus here in the House of Representatives, pending ongoing public consultations, is that we can increase the minimum wage by P200 per day," Romualdez said.

The TUCP has long petitioned the House to pass the legislated across-the-board wage increase of P150 for private-sector workers nationwide. The proposal, under House Bill 7871, filed by Deputy Speaker and TUCP Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, has been pending at the committee level since May 2023.

Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc proposes increasing the daily wage to P750 for all employees in the private sector under their House Bill 7568, which has also been pending at the same committee since March 2023.

The current minimum wage for private workers in the National Capital Region is P645, following the last P35 increase approved in July last year.

If the proposed P200 daily wage hike is approved, this will raise the daily minimum wage to P845.

According to Romualdez, the House will expedite the passage of the P200 daily minimum wage proposal, but they will also ensure that businesses, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), will not bear the brunt of it. He disclosed that they intend to include wage subsidies and exemptions for this sector.

“Our MSMEs are the backbone of our economy, and they must be protected even as we address the needs of our workers. Through wage subsidies and other mechanisms, we aim to ensure that no one is left behind,” he stated.

The last legislated wage increase was enacted more than three decades ago under the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989. Romualdez stressed that this successfully raised wages without causing massive inflation or widespread business closures.

“If we were able to do this in the past, there is no reason why we cannot do it now, especially with careful planning and collaboration with all sectors. We will not only increase the salary, we will also ensure that it will help our economy," Romualdez pointed out.

The Senate passed a P100 legislated wage increase for private employees in February last year. Nearly two years later, the counterpart of the measure has yet to be passed by the House.

Earlier, seasoned economists — Albay Rep. Joey Salceda and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo — argued that the proposed wage increase may not have a long-term positive impact, as the prices of goods and services are likely to rise after the wage hike.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), the country's biggest trade organization, has consistently rejected calls for the wage hike, citing its disadvantage for MSMEs, which they claim will be severely affected by the increase without receiving any benefits in return.

Furthermore, ECOP asserted that the proposed wage hike would negatively impact farmers, fisherfolk, market vendors, and others in the informal sector, which accounts for 84 percent of the labor force.

Some employer groups have also opposed the legislated wage hike, fearing it could lead to layoffs or force small businesses to shut down.