MANILA – A progressive lawmaker and militant labor groups on Saturday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent a bill seeking to impose a national minimum wage of P750 amid rising commodity prices blamed on the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act and other factors.
“Pinag-uusapan ang national minimum wage. May finile na kaming bill sa House… at hamon natin sa Duterte administration na gawing priority ito sa pagbubukas ng susunod na Kongreso,” ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio said in a forum in Quezon City.
In House Bill 7787, the seven-member Makabayan Bloc sought to apply the P750 national minimum wage to “all enterprises, regardless of location, size or industry classification.”
The Congress was on sine die adjournment from June 3 to July 23. Sessions will resume on July 24, when both chambers of the legislature will convene for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Duterte.
“Sa lahat ng manggagawa sa buong bansa, panahon na po para magkaisa tayo na mapalakas at ipanawagan sa gobyernong ito na isabatas na kaagad ‘yung House Bill 7787 na national minimum wage sa buong bansa na nagkakahalaga ng P750 sa private sector,” Kilusang Mayo Uno secretary-general Jerome Adonis said during the forum.
“Nananawagan kami kay Pangulong Duterte na gawin niya itong urgent bill dahil kailangang-kailangan na ng mga manggagawa,” Adonis said.
Likewise, Partido Manggagawa spokesperson Wilson Fortaleza said workers can no longer wait for the increase in minimum wages.
“Ang wage increase ay hindi na dapat ipagpaliban dahil alam natin ang dahilan kung bakit kailangan ng wage increase,” Fortaleza said.
He also said that the government should also reform the system in setting minimum wages and this should be indexed to inflation. (GMA News)
