Solon urges Marcos to certify as urgent proposed P200 wage hike

House Committee on Labor and Employment Chairman Rizal 4th district Rep. Fidel Nograles on Saturday, April 5, urged President Marcos to certify as urgent the proposed P200-wage hike bill in order to help Filipinos "buy food for their families".

Nograles appealed to the President to "take the reins" regarding the call for higher wages because he I believes "We are now at the point where we need executive action."

"We are past the need for reviews from the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, rather, what the people need is for Pres. Marcos to certify as urgent the proposed wage hike," he said.

Malacañang recently announced that Marcos already instructed the regional wage boards to review the workers’ pay.

However, Nograles argued that with rising hunger and increases in public transport fares, the President should instead have a direct hand in ensuring that Filipino workers are given a lifeline.

"Madalas ay kakarampot at hindi sapat ang pagtaas ng sahod na itinatakda ng mga regional wage board (The wage increase being proposed by regional wage board is almost always not enough)," he said.

"Naniniwala tayong ang pinakamabilis at mabisang interbensyon na maipapatupad natin ay ang P200 wage hike upang makabili ng pagkain para sa kanilang pamilya ang ating mga manggagawa (We believe that the fastest and most effective intervention to implement is the P200-worth of wage hike so our workers could buy food for their families)," he added.

A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in March showed that around 27.2 percent of Filipino families, or 7.5 million households, experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months. This was the highest since the 30.7 percent recorded in September 2020.

Meanwhile, the minimum fare for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line-1 was recently increased from P15 to P20 with the maximum fare for a single-journey ticket rising from P45 to P55.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is also set to rule on pending petitions for a P2 provisional increase in jeepney fares, along with a P2 fare hike for both city and provincial buses.

Nograles said that an urgent certification by the President on the proposed wage hike could help its eventual passage.

"Once session resumes in June there will only be six days remaining to pass the bill. An urgent certification would help us bypass the three-session-day rule between the 2nd and 3rd reading passage of the proposed wage hike," the solon said