On June 4, the House of Representatives passed House Bill No. 11376 (Wage Hike for Minimum Workers Act) seeking to raise the minimum wage by ₱200 per day. The Senate passed a similar bill stipulating a mere ₱100 wage increase. Both will go through the bicameral committee before being presented for the president’s signature. If enacted, this will be the first legislated wage hike in the Philippines in the past 36 years.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) viewed the passage of the two proposals as a result of the workers’ persistent call for a living wage. This is still far from the ₱1,200 living wage, it said. Nevertheless, this is much higher than the annual increases granted by the regional wage boards, which have only around ₱30-₱50 in recent years.

Workers are pushing for a review of the wage-setting mechanism that currently goes through the regional wage boards.

“We reiterate our call for the repeal of RA 6727, the end of wage regionalization, and the abolition of the Regional Wage Boards (RWB),” according to the KMU. “We workers are fighting for the restoration of a National Minimum Wage based on the family living wage.”

The group condemned Ferdinand Marcos Jr for implementing mere short-term and superficial measures instead of addressing workers’ grievances.

They said these gimmicks will not appease workers’ anger over decades of wage suppression.

“The cabinet reshuffling drama and the empty promise of ₱20 rice for minimum wage earners will not blind us,” said KMU.

In Congress, progressive lawmakers promised to ensure the passage of the ₱200 wage increase and other similar proposals.

“We will relentlessly monitor this proposal until it is also passed by the Senate and signed in Malacañang,” Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas stated.