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AS 19TH CONGRESS NEARS END

Marcos urged to certify Senate minimum wage hike bill as urgent


Marcos urged to certify Senate minimum wage hike bill as urgent

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has been urged to certify the Senate bill increasing the minimum wage by P100 as the end of the 19th Congress nears.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resource development, made the call and emphasized that the economic growth in 2024 must be reflected in the well-being of the Filipino workforce.

“The window for the 19th Congress is slowly closing, which is why we need to speed up discussions and ensure the bill's enactment before we adjourn," Villanueva said in a statement Friday.

“Sa taas ng presyo ng bilihin, kailangan rin po nating siguraduhin na may kakayahang mamuhay nang maayos ang ating mga kababayan,” he added.

(With the rising prices of goods, we also need to ensure that our fellow Filipinos have the capacity to live comfortably.)

Villanueva also renewed the call to increase the minimum wage of Filipinos following the committee approval of the counterpart measure of Senate Bill 2534 in the House of Representatives.

The Senate approved on third and final reading SB 2534 or the bill increasing the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector by P100 in February 2024.

Meanwhile, the House committee on labor and employment recently approved the P200 across-the-board daily wage hike.

Despite the differences in the Senate and House's bills, Villanueva said, "what is important is that we can match our workers' wages to the living wage."

Meanwhile, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., principal author of SB 2534, hoped that the passage of the counterpart measure in the lower house would be a "buzzer beater" before the 19th Congress ends.

“Sa papalapit na pagtatapos ng sesyon ng Kongreso sa darating na linggo, umaasa tayong makakaabot pang buzzer beater itong panukalang ito bilang handog natin sa ating mga manggagawa," Revilla said in a statement.

(With the closing of sessions nearly approaching, we hope this proposal will make it just in time as a gift for our workers.)

"We still have nine session days left in the 19th Congress. Kaya pa ito (We could still pass this)," he added.

On Thursday, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero said that the upper chamber will work with the House of Representatives towards the passage of an across-the-board daily wage hike for private sector workers.

Congress will be in session for a week before adjourning February 7 to give way to the campaign period and the conduct of the May 2025 polls

Congress will resume session from June 2 to 13 before 19th Congress ends.

Given the timeline, the House should approve the wage hike bill on second and third reading, and the House and Senate versions reconciled and ratified by Congress within three weeks.

Under this timeline, the wage hike bill will be ready fro the President's signature by the end of 19th Congress.

If the bill is certified urgent by Marcos, the House can approve the measure on second and third reading on the same day, speeding up the process.—AOL, GMA Integrated News