SENATE President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri enjoins his colleagues to support the passage of Senate Bill No. 2534 or the P100 Daily Minimum Wage Increase Act of 2023. Zubiri, who co-sponsored the measure Wednesday, February 7, 2024, said the bill is a vital step in recognizing the worth of the workers.
“It‘s time to push for the benefits of the labor sector. (They) are the foundation of our society, and they have the right to earn a decent wage, to have a decent life. Let us make this a statement of the Senate, an action of the Senate for our people,” Zubiri said.
Since the Senate had pushed for a P150 wage increase last March, he said the Regional Wage Boards had taken action and declared their respective increase in minimum wages.
However, he said, the increase was not enough to buy even a kilo of rice, hence the push for a P100 wage increase. According to Zubiri, the Senate will also continue to prod the Regional Wage Boards in the remaining regions in Mindanao to increase wages of workers in area.
On his part, Senator Jinggoy Estrada said an estimated 4.2 million minimum wage earners in the private sector would benefit from Senate Bill (SB) 2534.
“Under this measure, all employees in the private sector in the entire country, whether agricultural or non-agricultural, are entitled to (a) PHP100 minimum wage increase,” Estrada said in his sponsorship speech.
SB 2534, he said, augments the wage increases already issued by the regional wage boards.
“Thus, after consideration of the existing socio-economic conditions and positions of various sectors, it is incumbent upon us to propose a daily pay hike to help alleviate the burden of Filipinos in the face of soaring prices of basic commodities and rising cost of living,” he added.
