MANILA, Philippines -- A youth group launched on Thursday a campaign to gather 1 million signatures to press their demand for a legislated P125 across-the-board wage increase and repeal the Oil Deregulation Law.

The signature drive of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) is part of their “national campaign for social justice amidst poverty and crisis,” said the group’s chair, Biyaya Quizon.

The campaign was launched at Plaza Miranda in Manila, with SCMP members urging students, church goers, and pedestrians to sign the petition.

“Now more than ever, a wage increase is needed,” Quizon said. “We express our extreme disappointment with the statements of Malacañang that it cannot allow another wage increase this year while the people are suffering everyday from the crisis.”

She also said the government should scrap the Value Added Tax on oil if it really wants to help the poor.

“Junking the VAT law will relieve the poor [from] paying too much for every single commodity they buy. How dare the Arroyo [administration] boast of how the poor are provided the Katas ng [Benefits of] VAT [program] while it is the same tax that [is] squeezed out of their empty pockets,” Quizon said.

After gathering one million signatures, the petition will be forwarded to the House of Representatives and the Senate to “create pressure for the immediate passage of the P125 bill and the repeal of the VAT law,” Quizon said.

SCMP would also seek the help of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in gathering signatures in parishes.