In order to help Filipinos cope with “runaway” inflation, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Malacañang should work more closely with lawmakers for new laws and policies aimed at increasing workers’ earnings and accelerating job creation across the country.

Hontiveros said that while she welcomes the wage review order of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), new laws on raising workers’ pay and speeding up the creation of gainful livelihood should be part of the new Common Legislative Agenda (CLA), or those measures identified by both Malacanang and members of Congress as priority legislation via the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

“Everyone is affected by inflation, but its worst effects are felt the most by low wage earners, as well as freelance workers, or those who have lost their jobs or livelihood,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Wednesday, November 9.

“Dapat nang itaas ang sweldo ng manggagawa at mas maging aktibo tayo sa job creation sa buong bansa (Workers' salaries should be raised and we should be more active in job creation throughout the country). Swift government response on those issues is needed, through new laws or executive issuances,” Hontiveros said.

But the existing list, which has been identified in a LEDAC meeting last October, does not include any new proposed laws that will directly raise workers’ pay or foster job creation.

“Let us not ignore the everyday struggles of our kababayans. Mas mabunga sana kung una sa agenda ng LEDAC ang paglikha ng trabaho, dagdag-sweldo, at ayuda sa mahihirap para may pambayad sila sa mas mahal na bilihin at utility services

(It would have been more fruitful if the LEDAC’s agenda centered on the creation of jobs, salary increases, and aid to the poor so that the poor have more money to pay for more expensive goods and utility services),” Hontiveros said.

She said both the Executive and Legislative department should look into proposed P100 across-the-board wage hike to address the diminished value of minimum wages in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other regions.

In addition, the government should also study the implications of proposed wage hikes on the situation of millions of workers in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector, who are excluded by existing laws from the coverage of minimum wage regulations.

“Tamang kombinasyon ng tamang patakaran ang kailangan natin ngayon. Trabaho, sapat na sweldo, at kabuhayan ang dapat prayoridad ngayon dahil kapag meron nito ang mayorya ng ating mga kababayan, makakaya nilang salagin ang mga epekto ng masamang lagay ng ekonomiya (What we need right now is the right combination of the right policies. Jobs, adequate wages, and livelihood should be the priority now because when the majority of our countrymen have them, they will be able to withstand the effects of a bad economic situation),” she pointed out.

Hontiveros also said there should be a national conversation regarding wage hikes in anticipation of the opposing views from the business and state economic managers.

The lawmaker noted that while the unemployment rate dropped to 5.0 percent in September, the latest labor force survey showed a higher underemployment rate of 15.4 percent.

“Mas dumarami ang naghahanap ng raket at dagdag hanapbuhay dahil hindi na sapat ang kita sa iisang trabaho lamang. Kaya kailangan double time ang gobyerno na solusyunan ang problemang ito (More and more people are looking for an extra job because the income from one job alone is no longer enough. So the government needs double time to solve this problem),” she stressed.