Makabayan solons have filed a measure that, if enacted, would abolish the country's regional wage board system in favor of a uniform national minimum wage.
Under House Bill (HB) No.4898, the proposed national minimum wage will be implemented through an enacted legislation or through an executive issuance by the President, the amount of which shall be prescribed by the National Wages and Productivity Board (NWPB).
Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel jointly authored the bill, the purpose of which is to come up with minimum livable wage for Filipinos.
"The highly irrational 'wage rationalization' or regionalization has led to the creation of over 1,000 wage levels across the country which are nowhere near the living wage. Dapat ibalik ang pambansang minimum na sahod na disente at nakabubuhay (The decent, livable national minimum wage must be brought back)," Brosas said.
"Wage discrepancies per region have also been exploited by businesses to provide lower wages for the same kind of work. This has been the case for business process outsourcing (BPO) workers and several other industries," she added.
The militant lawmaker said the amount for the national minimum wage must approximate, if not equal, the prevailing family living wage (FLW). Currently, inflation-adjusted FLW stands at P1,117 per day for a family of five.
The bill also amends the criteria for wage-fixing under Republic Act (RA) 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act to remove what Makabayan has described as "pro-capitalist parameters" and institute the right to a livable wage as well as the provision of social, physiological, and other needs of workers' families.
"Penalties and revocation of the business permit will be imposed on companies which will not comply with the mandated national minimum wage," said Brosas.
She also welcomed the pronouncement of House Labor Committee Chairman and Rizal 4th district Rep. Fidel Nograles on the need to tackle wage bills soon.
The Makabayan bloc will file a separate bill seeking a substantial minimum wage increase to equalize wage levels across regions at P1,100.