DOLE not against passage of wage hike law
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Department of Labor and Employment
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday maintained that it is not opposing the passage of a wage hike law.
According to Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, their job is to give inputs as lawmakers are the ones who decide whether or not to approve a proposed legislation.
“It is part of the Department of Labor and Employment, in particular the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), to provide technical inputs,” Laguesma said in an interview at the Jobstreet Career Con 2025 in Pasay City.
“We are not against it (wage law). We only give scenarios about that,” he added.
On Tuesday, Speaker Martin Romualdez said the House of Representatives will push for the passage of a bill granting a PHP200 daily minimum wage hike.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Wage hike granted in 2024 benefits 5M workers in 14 regions
Article continues after this advertisementRomualdez made the announcement a day after the meeting between several lawmakers and representatives from various labor groups.
The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition on Wednesday welcomed Romualdez’s statement, noting that the wage hike bill has been stalled in the Labor committee since March last year.
Lawyer Sonny Matula, the group’s chairperson, however said the implementation of a legislated wage hike should be nationwide.