Senators and labor groups said the P40 wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region granted by the regional wage board was “woefully inadequate.”
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said the new minimum wage was not a “living wage” as he filed a bill that sets a living wage as a standard to determine the minimum wage.
Villanueva’s Senate Bill No. 2140 proposes an amendment to the wage fixing criteria in the Labor Code of the Philippines to put a living wage front and center in determining the regional minimum wage.
The bill mandates that a living wage must ensure the employees’ and their families’ nourishment, clothing, shelter and education, and general well-being.
“There is no sugar-coating the situation of Filipino workers – the minimum wage as [currently] determined is not enough for a family to live decently,” he said.
He noted that the NCR minimum wage is only half of the required living wage.
He said this is especially alarming due to the country’s 6.6 percent inflation rate in April 2023, which is still above the target inflation rate. This was further exacerbated by the 20 percent global food price inflation, the highest level in two decades, according to the World Bank.
While describing the increase as a “wonderful development,” Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri however stressed it is not enough.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada agreed that the P40 increase in the daily minimum wage may not be sufficient to achieve a living wage in the NCR.
However, as a product of a tripartite body where employers, workers, and the government are all represented, he’s hopeful this amount serves and protects the interests of all stakeholders.
Still, as soon as Congress resumes its Second Regular Session, Estrada vowed to take up the matter of wages again.
Senator Grace Poe said she considered the P40 increase “woefully inadequate,” since the rising prices of basic goods have hit the poor the hardest, including families that earn the minimum wage.
“We hope employers capable of going the extra mile will do so through additional allowances or non-monetary benefits,” she said. “Our workers deserve wages that will help their families live decently.”
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III lamented the very low minimum wages in several regions as he called on regional wage boards across the country to implement reasonable wage adjustments.
Pimentel pointed out the urgency of reviewing and reassessing current wage rates to ensure they are both reasonable and realistic for workers across all provinces.”
“Today’s minimum wage rates across the country are unacceptable,” Pimentel said. “To increase our wage rates in every corner of the nation today is a matter of social justice given the prevailing challenges of inflation and its adverse effects on purchasing power.”
With the P40 increase in NCR, the minimum wage rate in the region now stands at P610 per day.
Citing data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission, Pimentel drew attention to the very low minimum wages in nearby regions such as the P460 minimum wage for the non-agricultural sector and P430 for agricultural workers in Region III and P470 and P429 for non-agricultural workers and agricultural workers in Calabarzon, respectively.
“It is essential that these boards consider the economic realities faced by workers in their respective regions and take appropriate steps to help our countrymen who struggle to make ends meet,” Pimentel said.
Even in rural areas, residents are experiencing the impact of rising prices, including more expensive gas and electricity bills, he added.
On the other hand, Villanueva mentioned a study by the IBON Foundation that a family of five in the National Capital Region (NCR) needs at least P1,161 a day to live decently.
“The Constitution itself guarantees to all workers the right to a living wage. This is the intent of our bill,” he added.
The biggest labor group, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the P40 wage hike was “too little, too late.”
“After a very long wait for much-needed relief from the skyrocketing cost of basic goods and services, the paltry P40 increase in the NCR daily minimum wage amounts to almost nothing. It is not even half of the P88 already lost to inflation from the purchasing power of the current P570 NCR daily minimum wage,” TUCP Vice President Luis Corral said.
“To justify and assert that P40 is enough since the daily minimum wage should be a mere safety net and different from a living wage is atrocious in the face of the daily struggle to merely survive,” Corral said.
“Giving a paltry 40 pesos increase is akin to saying that the daily minimum wage should not be based on the Department of Science and Technology’s Pinggang Pinoy daily healthy food requirements for a family of five, which as per computation, amounts to P917.50. This shared myopic perspective of both the DOLE and employers of the concept of the daily minimum wage as a safety net, should be revised and reformed. It has no place under the modern and modernizing vision of the Marcos administration.”
“How can it be considered a safety net if the daily minimum wage is not even enough to bring nutritious food to the table, or be able to keep body and soul together? Further, how can the minimum wage be different from the living wage when the demand for a living wage is, in fact, a factor under the wage formula in arriving at the daily minimum wage?” Corral said.
Other groups also expressed disappointment over the P40 wage hike saying it was way below the P100 they sought in their petitions filed in December last year.
“We are disappointed as the order not only came late but also because it was not the workers but primarily the side of business that was considered in this decision,” Partido Manggagawa said in a statement.
“To illustrate categorically, the P40 increase can only buy a kilo of regular-milled rice or pretend it can for 2 kilos of that imaginary P20 a kilo promised by the President. The increase may not even be enough to cover the increase in the prices of onions,” the labor group said.
The labor group Sentro said the wage hike in Metro Manila was not enough and called for a national minimum wage instead.
“The P40-wage increase is woefully inadequate. It is not even enough to allow workers to recover the lost value of their wages,” Sentro said.
On the other hand, the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) welcomed the approved wage increase, describing it as a small victory for the dedicated labor force.
However, it added that minimum wage earners were disappointed by the low amount.
“The increment falls significantly short of the more than P100 wage recovery that our labor force had been anticipating. It also fails to reflect the escalating cost of living in Metro Manila. As such, we stress that the struggle for a fair, living wage is far from over,” FFW said.
Also on Friday, Rep. Wilbert T. Lee of AGRI party-list group on Friday lauded the P40 minimum wage increase in Metro Manila as he called for the other regional wage boards to issue similar hikes in their respective areas.
