The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives on Monday, March 13, urged President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent House Bill (HB) No.  7568, which would mandate a P750 across-the-board wage increase for those working in the agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises in the private sector. The proposed measure, filed by Reps. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela Party-list, France Castro of ACT Teachers Party-list, and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan Party-list, said the P750 wage increase would help attain a living wage for Filipino families. “This yawning average minimum wage-family living wage gap of P750 across regions starkly represents the vast sea of unfulfilled basic necessities of ordinary Filipino families, which the national government should urgently address through substantial wage increases amid historic inflationary surges,” Brosas said in a statement. “Tumataas ang tubo ng mga kumpanya tapos may savings pa sa mas mababang buwis sa ilalim ng CREATE Law, ngunit hindi naman tumataas ang sahod ng mga manggagawa (The interests of the companies increase while they still have savings with a lower tax rate under the CREATE Law, but the salaries of the workers do not increase),” she lamented. Under the proposed measure, workers and employees in the private sector, whether agricultural or non-agricultural, would qualify for the wage increase. This includes those working in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Freeport Zones. The bill would cover all positions and employment statuses, as well as licensed job contractors, manpower agencies, and other analogous entities. The “new daily minimum wage” would be the sum of the current daily wage of an employee and the P750 across-the-board and nationwide wage increase. According to the Top 1000 Corporations in the Philippines report, the aggregate gross revenue of the top companies jumped 17.5 percent in 2021 (or P13.44 trillion), from the P11.44 trillion posted during the height of the pandemic in 2020. According to a statement from Brosas, this was the fastest gross revenue growth since the 24.4 percent expansion recorded in 2001. The lawmaker said that the government must institute also a wage subsidy program for micro and small enterprises “to assist them in complying with the proposed significant wage increase.” Companies and individuals that do not comply with the wage increase will have to pay a penalty and would face imprisonment, subject to the discretion of the court. The bill’s explanatory note said it is “extremely urgent to close the gap between the current minimum wage and the calculated family living wage across regions.” “This proposed wage increase bill should be certified as urgent by President Marcos Jr. Legislating a significant wage increase is long overdue, especially under the current dire circumstances,” the bill’s explanatory note added. Brosas said the government should focus on increasing wages instead of pushing for a constitutional change.