Imee wants equal minimum workers’ wage nationwide

Senator Imee Marcos wants all workers in the country to have the same minimum wage.

Marcos said she does not believe there is a significant difference in expenses between the provinces and the city to justify the disparity in workers’ wages.

“I don’t believe there is a big difference in the expenses between the province and the city. Now, the [minimum wage is] over P200 a day because it’s P600 or P640 in Manila, while it’s only P440 in the province. I want [wages] to be equal,” she said in a radio interview.

While Marcos believes that certain expenses in the city are manageable and affordable, she said it is different in the provinces.

“In Ilocos, the price of gasoline is 30 percent higher. If you go to Davao, in Mindanao, the grocery prices are high, electronic [products] are expensive, while in Manila, it’s cheaper,” she noted.

Marcos is also pushing for a “universal wage” for the poor.

Instead of different “ayuda” or aid programs for the marginalized, Marcos suggested consolidating all the names of individuals who receive financial aid and giving them equal support.

She noted that the government needs P300 billion for “ayuda.”

“My suggestion is… Can we just list down the poorest among us so that there will be a universal wage for the poor — all those who fall under the poverty line, the farmers [who are] marginalized, the fisherfolk, the elderly? We have already started. Let’s include the disabled, the solo parents, all of them so that this does not become a mess,” she said.

“And then we hear a large group of people in line because politicians are politicizing. ‘Oh, you need to be connected to a congressman…’ Oh my, that is disappointing,” she added.