CATBALOGAN CITY — House of Representatives Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan wants all 16 regional wage boards outside of the National Capital Region to move fast in giving private sector workers immediate relief from the soaring cost of living.
“We are counting on all regional wage boards outside of Metro Manila to quickly figure out the pay increases needed to help workers recover the purchasing power that they’ve lost on account of the spiraling prices of basic commodities,” Libanan said.
“Under the Labor Code, all regional wage boards are empowered to review and raise the take-home pay of workers even in the absence of any petition for an increase,” Libanan, a 4Ps party-list representative, pointed out.
In a Pulse Asia Research Inc. report released Friday, adult Filipinos aged 18 years old and above cited “increasing the pay of workers” as their second most urgent concern, after “controlling inflation.”
“Reducing poverty, creating more jobs, and fighting graft and corruption in government” were also among the top five most urgent issues cited by Filipinos in the June 2024 Survey on National Concerns and the President’s State of the Nation Address.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Metro Manila earlier approved a P35 increase in the daily minimum wage rate of non-farm workers – from P610 to P645 – effective July 16.
Libanan said the country “absolutely needs higher wages to boost up household consumption spending, which has been dampened by wage erosion due to price increases.”
“We have to stimulate household consumption spending if we want to increase the demand for goods and services at a faster rate, and create more jobs in the months ahead,” Libanan said.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), household consumption spending accounts for 73 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Household final consumption grew by only 4.6 percent in the first three months of 2024, slower than the 6.4 percent growth it posted in the first quarter of 2023.
Libanan acknowledged that any delay in the grant of regional pay increases would put more pressure on Congress to enact a nationwide across-the-board wage adjustment.
The House under Speaker Martin Romualdez is already identifying ways to boost the take-home pay of workers, including a legislated wage increase of up to P350.
Meanwhile, the Senate has already approved on third and final reading a bill that would grant a P100 increase in the daily minimum wage for private sector workers.
