Ejercito backs wage hike, calls for balance
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Senator JV Ejercito on Thursday wants to carefully study the proposed P200 daily minimum wage hike recently passed by the House of Representatives, warning of its potential impact on small and medium enterprises while reaffirming his support for giving workers financial relief amid soaring inflation.
Speaking to the media during a press briefing, Ejercito said the Senate was first to pass its own version of the wage hike — Senate Bill 2534 — which proposed a P100 increase. However, he only learned yesterday that the House had already passed a separate bill doubling that amount.
“The Senate passed the P100 wage hike bill — I think it was last year,” he said.
Despite the substantial difference in the proposed amounts, Ejercito expressed openness to a higher wage hike if the country’s economy and businesses could handle it.
“Whatever we can give to our laborers, let’s give it,” he said in Filipino. “Prices of goods are way too high now due to inflation. If P100 will help, why not give it? If P200 is possible, then let’s do it.”
But he also emphasized the need to strike a balance between labor relief and business sustainability.
“We always have to ensure businesses can survive — especially small and medium-scale ones,” he added in Filipino. “As the saying goes, we don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg.”
Ejercito said he wants data, statistics, and expert input from both economic managers and employers before a final decision is made in the likely bicameral conference committee that will reconcile the two versions.
The senator also noted that news of the House bill’s passage only reached him Wednesday afternoon, through social media and news reports.
“With inflation and the rising cost of living, a wage hike is really necessary,” he said.
The House on Wednesday approved House Bill 11376, which grants a P200 across-the-board increase in the daily minimum wage for private sector workers. It covers all employment types, including contractual and agricultural workers, and prohibits any reduction in existing benefits or allowances.
