Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas (PPAB)

Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas described the newly approved P35 minimum wage increase in the National Capital Region (NCR) as an “insult”, and said that it failed to properly address the grim economic situation of Filipino workers and their families.

"This P35 increase is an insult to Filipino workers. It's barely different from the P25 wage hike implemented way back in 1989, and lower than the P40 hike granted last year,” Brosas said in a statement on Monday, July 1.

“How can the government expect NCR workers to survive on P645 a day when the Family Living Wage stands at P1,200 and when prices continue to accelerate?" she added.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved on Monday the increase of the daily minimum wage for NCR from the current P610 to P645.

This wage hike shall take effect on July 17.

For Brosas, such a “meager” increase would suggest that the government is treating workers as “mere slaves” with a disregard for their basic needs and rights.

"Hampaslupa ang tingin ng gobyerno sa mga manggagawa (The government looks down on workers as if they’re mere peasants),” she stressed.

As such, Brosas renewed her push for the passage of her House Bill (HB) No. 7568 or the P750 across-the-board (ATB) wage hike bill. 

"The P750 ATB wage hike bill is a step towards ensuring that Filipino families can live decently and with dignity, but it's clear that this is not the priority of the Marcos Jr. administration," the Makabayan bloc lawmaker noted.

"Sa nalalapit na State of the Nation Address (SONA), asahan ng Pangulo na sasabayan ito ng mga manggagawa ng isang malawak na protesta para ipanawagan ang nakabubuhay na sahod sa kabila ng tumitinding krisis sa ating bansa," she added.

(In the upcoming [SONA], the President should expect that the workers will accompany it with a wide protest to call for a livable wage amidst the worsening crisis in our country.)