Ka Leody wants P750 national minimum wage

Labor leader and presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman on Thursday said he plans on raise the daily minimum wage of workers all over the country to P750  if he wins in the May 2022 elections.

De Guzman made the remark during an interview on CNN Philippines, but stressed that his priority will be to make the wages of the employees in provinces the same as in Metro Manila.

“Mas immediate ay ‘yung plano ko na itaas ang sahod ng mga manggagawa sa probinsya kapantay ng sa Metro Manila. Then later, itaas natin ng P750 across the board, nationwide,” he said.

(My more immediate plan is to  make the wages of workers in the province at par with those in Metro Manila. Then later, we will raise the daily minimum wage to P750 across the board, nationwide.)

“Para sa ganun, makaangat-angat naman ‘yung buhay ng ating mga manggagawa [so the lives of the workers will improve],” he added.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) National Wages Productivity Commission, the daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region ranges from P500 to P537.

De Guzman earlier emphasized that he does not see the essence of varying salary rates when the prices of the goods and services, as well as the value-added tax, in the provinces and in Metro Manila are just the same.

“Actually, maliit pa ‘yan eh kasi ang living wage, sinasabi ni Pernia nasa P1,600 isang araw dapat. Pero ‘wag muna natin abutin ‘yun. Kahit kalahati na lang ng halagang ‘yun ang ating ibigay sa ating manggagawa ay tingin ko malaking kaluwagaan na sa ating mamamayan,” he said.

(Actually, that living wage is still small as compared to what Pernia said that it should be at P1,600 a day. But let’s not aim for that first. Let’s try to give only even half of that amount to our workers. I think it will be a great relief to our people.)

De Guzman was referring to the earlier statement of Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia.—LDF, GMA News