MANILA — Senate leaders on Tuesday said a P35 hike in the daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region is not enough to help workers with their living expenses and pushed for a wage adjustment through legislation.

By law, the minimum wage varies per region due to differences in the cost of living and to encourage investments and job creation in areas where labor costs are lower.

"Maliwanag na kulang at malayo na matugunan ang tunay na mga pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan sa gitna ng mataas na presyo ng bilihin,” Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said in a statement.

RELATED: NCR workers to get P35 daily minimum wage hike

He said the wage boards, which seek to balance the demands of management and labor, always grant increases that are lower than what workers seek.

"Ni minsan ay hindi pa sila tumama mula nang nilikha ang ahensyang ‘yan… Saan ba sila bumibili ng bigas? Nag-grocery? Nag-palengke? Pa-share naman kamo kasi baka sobrang mura doon at kasya ang dagdag na P35 sa sahod na binigay nila,” Escudero said.

(This agency has never given the proper increase. Where do they buy their rice? Where do they buy their groceries, which market do they go to? I hope they share that because it seems the prices there are so low that a P35 increase is enough.)

Escudero said the Senate has passed a bill for a P100 across-the-board wage increase but also acknowledged that that is still not enough for a “living” wage, which would allow workers to meet their daily needs and live a decent life.

“Patuloy na ipaglalaban at tatayuan ng Senado ang prinsipyo at paniniwala na: Ang kaunting bawas sa kita ng negosyante —na di naman nila ikalulugi — ay malaking pakinabang at tulong sa ating mga manggagawa,” he added. 

(The Senate will continue to stand by and fight for the position that a small decrease in profits — if it will not drive businesses to bankruptcy — is still a huge help to daily wage earners.)

READ: Marcos orders review of minimum wages in regions

Employers’ groups like the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines have warned that giving too large an increase would burden employers, could mean job losses, and would also drive inflation. ECOP has also said that the minimum wage is not meant to be a “living” wage.

Sen. Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri meanwhile said that the P35 daily minimum wage increase is grossly insufficient to meet the rising costs of daily living given that the prices of basic necessities, especially food and rice, continue to become unaffordable to poor families.

Zubiri said that the wage boards should have approved higher amounts not only for the National Capital Region but all regions since prices of basic goods are generally the same across the country.

“Hindi ito tama at hindi ito sapat, period (It it not right and it is not enough),” said Zubiri, the principal author of the legislated wage hike bill that the Senate has passed but that is still pending at the House of Representatives.

“At dapat ang wage increase ay hindi lamang sa NCR, kundi sa lahat ng rehiyon. Kasi halos pareho naman ang presyo ng bilihin kahit saan ka magpunta,” he said.

(And the wage increase should not just be in NCR but across all regions because prices are basically the same wherever you go.)

He said: “The struggle to make ends meet is the same for our kababayans across provinces.”

Wage boards receive and hold hearings on petitions for increases filed by labor and workers’ groups but can also review current wages against the socioeconomic conditions in their regions.

Zubiri had asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to support the legislated P100 daily minimum wage hike bill now pending in the House of Representatives and appealed to colleagues to consider the proposal.

“[P]ara naman maibsan ang kahirapan ng milyun-milyong pamilya na umaasa sa sahod ng ating mga minimum-wage earners,” he said.

(So we can ease the burden of millions of families who rely on minimum wage earners)

Apart from wage petitions and legislated increases, workers can push for higher pay and better benefits through collective bargaining by labor unions and workers’ associations.

For his part, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada said the P35 increase in the daily minimum wage for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) is not just timely but essential,

“Mas mahirap sa mga naghihikahos nating kababayan na tustusan ang pang-araw-araw na gastusin ng kanilang pamilya ang patuloy na pagtaas na presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin kaya makakatulong ang dagdag sa sahod lalo na sa mga minimum wage earners. Pero sana tumaas pa ang arawang sahod nila dahil kakarampot kung tutuusin ang  dagdag na P35,” Estrada said, adding that it would be more satisfactory if the existing wage rate is given a legislated wage hike.

(It is harder for the poor to meet their daily needs so this increase will help them with that, but it would be better for the daily wage to go up more because P35 is too small)

Estrada commended the NCR-Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board’s grant of pay adjustment to the estimated 1.1 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila saying that the move reflects their recognition of the hardships that workers are enduring and the need to enhance their purchasing power.

“While this increase is a positive development, we must continue to strive for comprehensive measures that will further protect and uplift the lives of our workers. Ensuring wages keep pace with the cost of living and inflation is fundamental to promoting economic stability and social equity,” he said.

The NCR wage board on June 27, 2024 issued Wage Order NCR-25, bringing the minimum wage for non-agriculture workers to P645 from P610, and for those in the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers, to P608 from P573 to P608.