Senate Bets Bat for 1500 National Daily Minimum Wage

Senatoriables Leody De Guzman and Luke Espiritu on Wednesday declared their intention to set the daily minimum wage to ₱1,500 nationwide in the first bill they would file in the Senate should they win their campaign.

De Guzman and Espiritu cited actual household expenditures as the reason for the wage increase proposal, saying it is the first step towards realizing the constitutional mandate to provide a living wage to workers.

“A family has to spend up to ₱30,000 every month just to meet the simplest needs. It is not enough for a worker, who is still a subscriber and will be buried in debt after his work. He should just be given what he deserves, the salary that can truly support him and his family,” De Guzman said.

Espiritu said that the call for a wage increase is just the first step on the path to improving worker welfare.

“Workers in this country are in a dismal state. The current conditions require systemic reform, which we will push for in the Senate. The call for a higher minimum wage is just the first step, an urgent reform needed to just keep workers breathing space as we work to truly uplift their condition,” he said.

De Guzman said that the wage increase should be nationwide, as workers deserve equal pay regardless of location, and as a way to boost regional economies.

“It is not right that the sweat of workers in Manila is more expensive than in other places. The additional income for workers, we are sure, will not be taken abroad. It will be used to buy the needs of their loved ones, which will help lift the economy of the provinces,” he said.

“The government has been trying to bring investors into the provinces for a long time. They didn’t realize that the problem was that workers had no place to buy products and services. It’s time to address these issues,” he added.

Espiritu said that the BMBE Law and Wage Rationalization Law allows for exemptions and government assistance for micro and small-sized enterprises to help them meet the needs of their workers without going under.

“The law allows micro and small-sized enterprises to be assisted in meeting minimum wage requirements. Even now, the government has AKAP, a program supposed to assist those affected by inflation and those earning less than the minimum wage. Instead of using the ₱26 billion budgeted for the program to give aid, the government can use this fund to help subsidize the ₱1,500 minimum wage proposal without needing the intercession of congressmen and senators,” the Bukluran of the Filipino Workers national president said.