Progressive partylist Akbayan on Friday strongly urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to include the proposed P200 legislated wage hike as part of his priority bills that he wishes Congress to pass for the last three years of his term.

The group made the call ahead of Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address coming 28 July, marking his mid-term in office. 

“The patchwork wage increases being given by wage boards are no longer enough, and the calls to tighten belts simply won’t work anymore,” Rep. Peri Cendaña said in the vernacular. “Workers are already writhing in pain from consistently tightening their belts.”

The Marcos administration’s performance rating plunged in a recent survey by Pulse Asia, with nearly two-thirds, or 66 percent, of 1,200 adult respondents saying they disapprove of how the government manages inflation. 

Last month’s inflation rate slightly accelerated to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent in May, primarily driven by high costs of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels. 

The Pulse Asia survey also showed that 48 percent of the respondents expressed disapproval of the administration’s handling of workers’ wages—the fastest-rising national concern for Filipinos, jumping by 17 percent since April.

‘Wake up call’

Cendaña argued that Marcos must take the cue from the survey, revealing the growing discontent of the public with his government, to finally sign into law the long-overdue proposal for a P200 increase in the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector.

He said Marcos certifying the bill as urgent will allow Congress to give due priority for the swift passage of the measure and prevent it from lapsing, like what happened in past Congresses. 

The farthest point the proposed wage hike has come was in the recently concluded 19th Congress, when both the House of Representatives and Senate passed the measure on final reading. 

The lack bicam to harmonize the conflicting provisions of the House and the Senate’s version, however, doomed the bill. The House had approved a P200 daily wage hike while the Senate had proposed a P100 increase. 

The bicam is the final stage in Congress before any approved bills are transmitted to Malacañang for the President’s signature.

With neither the House nor the Senate willing to compromise, the measure effectively died along with the adjournment of the 19th Congress.  

Step up, Mr. President

“There are only three years left in the President's term, but there is still no major improvement in the income of Filipinos. Our workers deserve the strongest support from the government to survive through the deluge of inflation. They need this lifeline against rising prices,” Cendaña concluded.

Had the proposed P200 wage hike passed, the legislation would have marked the first across-the-board wage increase since the 1989 Wage Rationalization Act, nearly four decades. 

Marcos had openly expressed reservations about supporting the proposed wage hike, citing its economic and inflationary implications and adverse effects on businesses, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises, which account for 84 percent of the country’s total employment.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the largest business group in the country, has religiously opposed clamor for wage hike, warning that it would severely impact MSMEs, may lay off workers, or force small businesses to shut down.

ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. earlier said only 10 percent to 16 percent of the country’s 52 million workforce are expected to benefit from the wage hike, leaving the staggering 84 percent, or those who have no employers, with no salary adjustment.

The current daily minimum wage for private employees in Metro Manila is now pegged at P695 after the Regional Wage Board approved a P50 increase on 30 June. The salary adjustment took effect on Friday, 18 July.

Several bills calling for a wage hike have been filed in the present 20th Congress, with some proposing to increase the daily take-home pay of workers to as high as P1,200.

Various labor groups led by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines also consistently pressed Marcos to order Congress to swiftly pass the wage hike and have him sign it into law.