Zubiri says a P100 wage hike is needed amid rising costs

Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senate president, said Monday an additional P100 should be added to workers’ daily wages for a wage hike to be felt by the labor force.

As Zubiri asserted, the P40 increase is insufficient despite the approval of the National Capital Region regional wage board.

To have a significant impact, we need an increase of 100 pesos a day at least. Buying a kilo of rice with P40 is impossible,” Zubiri told the reporter in Filipino.

It is my opinion that we need to raise the minimum wage by at least P100 (more).

Among the solutions for minimum wage earners to cope with high energy and water costs is an “across-the-board” increase, Zubiri said.

As Zubiri pointed out, the cost of living in Mindanao is even higher than in Manila. “How are the workers in Mindanao different from those in Manila?” he asked.

NCR workers receive the highest daily minimum wage rate of P573 to P610, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission. As a result, workers from other regions earn less, earning between P306 and P470 per day as minimum wage.

In addition, Zubiri cited “elevator ladies” and security guards at the Senate as examples of people who would not be affected by the P40 increase.

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“SSS, Pag-ibig and Philhealth payments would have already reduced the P40 increase by the time they got their salaries. Zubiri explained that they don’t even notice the change. “That needs to be increased.”

Jinggoy Estrada, chair of the Senate labor panel, pledged to prioritize the discussion of pending bills proposing higher wage rates, including an increase in the daily minimum wage of all private workers by P150.

It is anticipated that approximately 1.1 million Metro Manila minimum wage earners will benefit directly from the P40 wage increase that takes effect on July 16.

It is estimated that 1.5 million full-time wage and salary workers are indirectly benefiting from wage distortion reductions made at the enterprise level.