Senate President Francis Escudero clarified on Monday that proposed measures to increase the minimum daily wage, including the P200 wage hike bill recently passed by the House, are not among the priority bills of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
“Ipasasa pala nila yan, but hindi bin-ring up sa LEDAC para napag-usapan na, hindi ba?” Escudero remarked, questioning why such a major proposal wasn’t discussed in the council composed of key executive and legislative leaders. “Siguro naman hindi ito maliit na bagay para hindi mo lang mabanggit o mapag-usapan. Ano to? Napag-isipan lamang pagkatapos ng LEDAC?” he added.
The Senate has already passed its version of a wage hike bill proposing a P100 increase, which includes exemptions for micro and small businesses that may struggle with implementation. Escudero said he has yet to review the House version to check if it contains similar safeguards.
“If you remember the Senate bill providing for a 100 pesos across the board wage increase, marami kaming in-exempt para protektahan yung maliliit talaga,” he explained.
Former Senate President Migz Zubiri warned that a steep P200 wage hike could harm employment, saying business owners he spoke with were open to a P100 increase but feared the higher proposal could lead to job cuts or force companies to automate operations.
“‘Yung P200 talaga magsha-shutdown o magka-cutdown kami ng tao,’” Zubiri quoted the business sector, adding, “I agree with you because the P200 will sabotage the law.”
Zubiri added that a more modest P100 wage hike had a better chance of surviving a presidential veto. “Yung 100 peso wage hike has a less chance of being vetoed,” he said.
Senator Joel Villanueva echoed concerns about the House version, pointing out that the Senate has yet to receive a formal copy of House Bill 11376.
“So what do you expect from us?” Villanueva said, adding that the public deserves clarity. “I don’t want to give false hopes to our workers.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. previously said he wanted to fully study the economic impact of the P200 wage hike before taking any position.
