Solon: Minimum wage hike ratification possible before Congress adjourns

House of Representatives.

MANILA, Philippines — The ratification of a final minimum wage hike bill before the Senate and the House of Representatives is still possible before the 19th Congress adjourns its session, a staunch advocate of the proposal said.

According to Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, the bicameral conference committee can meet before Congress adjourns session on Wednesday, June 11, to reconcile differences in the Senate and the House’s version of the wage hike bill.

The House last Wednesday approved House Bill (HB) No. 11376 or the proposed Wage Hike For Minimum Wage Workers Act, which pushes for a P200 increase in the per-day salaries of minimum wage earners.  The Senate meanwhile approved their version contained in Senate Bill No. 2534 last February, but they proposed a P100-daily minimum wage increase.

READ: House OKs P200 minimum wage hike on final reading

“As a member of the Minority, I was one of those who will sit for the bicameral (meeting) […] now, regarding questions if there is time for this, to address the disagreeing provisions ng House Bill No. 11376 at Senate Bill No. 2534, actually we have time as we still have session days left,” Brosas said in a chance interview last Thursday.

“If we stand united, this will be fast, if we unite on a specific figure, it would be easier, it can move forward and reach the President’s desk.  The important thing is that it reaches the President’s desk so that it can be enacted into law.  And remember this is historic, after three decades, it is only now that we were able to approve a legislated wage hike bill on third reading here at the House,” she added.

Under the Congress’ rules, when there are different provisions in similar bills approved by the Senate and the House, a bicameral conference committee shall be convened, which will come up with a final version of the proposed measure.

Final version

This final version, contained in a bicameral conference committee report, should be ratified by the House and the Senate separately during a plenary session, before it is forwarded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his consideration.

However, with the 19th Congress’ session set to go into sine die adjournment by June 13 — and the last session date set on Wednesday, June 11 — the bicameral conference committee report should come up with a final version before June 11 so that it can be ratified before session adjourns.

Regarding the wage hike amount that the bicam would pursue, Brosas said they do not mind if the wage hike would be P100 or P200 per day — or a compromise of P150 per day — will be used in the final version, as long as it is ratified and sent to the President’s desk.

“For us, we are not stiff on the amount that we will pursue, we can talk and unite on what is proper for us to pursue, but of course we will stand for that amount that the House has considered, because what we ultimately want is for the people to benefit from this, right?  So with the amount, we have no problem about that,” Brosas said.

“Whatever amount that may be, based on what we will discuss, we will stand for that […] We can also do that,” Brosas said if it is possible for the Senate and the House to meet halfway, at a P150 wage hike.  “As long as the House and the Senate could unite on a specific amount, we will do because the important thing is for us to enact this law, so that people would benefit from it.”

READ: P200 wage hike to cause layoffs, PH retailers warn

HB No. 11376 was approved by the House on second reading last February 3 — two days before Congress adjourned its session for the election season break.

Before the bill was approved, no committee or individual amendments were made but Assistant Majority Leader and Leyte 3rd District Rep. Anna Victoria Veloso-Tuazon said that they will be placing a substitute bill to HB No. 11376, under Committee Report No. 1384.

Initially, it was unclear why there was a substitution of the bill, but copies of the substitute measure under Committee Report No. 1384 provided by Brosas showed that the key difference would be that the wage hike would apply to minimum wage earners only.

Previously, the bill called for a P200 across-the-board increase to wages — which would have resulted in salary increases for all private sector workers, regardless of their salary grades.

Several groups have already expressed concerns about the possible fallout coming from the wage hike proposals, with the largest group of retailers warning that the wage hike could lead to layoffs and cause even more problems.

“This will still have to pass the Senate. Nevertheless, this will cause layoffs in the retail sector especially in the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) retailers, which comprise almost 70 percent of retail employment,” Philippine Retailers Association president Roberto Claudio told the Inquirer.

However, trade unions said that big businesses and employers’ claims are only an excuse to avoid giving living wages to workers, in favor of maximizing their revenues./mr