Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri stated on Monday that workers' daily pay must be increased by an additional P100 for the country's labor force to feel the genuine impact of a wage increase in the face of rising commodity prices.
While the senator applauded the decision of the National Capital Region's regional wage board to approve the P40 daily pay rise, Zubiri claimed that it was insufficient.
According to Zubiri, an "across-the-board" raise for workers in other regions is also necessary to assist minimum wage workers in dealing with the rising cost of water and electricity.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission said workers from the NCR receive the highest daily minimum wage rate of P573 to P610.
Laborers in other regions, on the other hand, earn less, with daily minimum pay ranging from P306 to P470.
Zubiri also mentioned minimum wage earners in the Senate, such as "elevator ladies" and security guards, as being among those who would be unaffected by the P40 hike.
Jinggoy Estrada, head of the Senate Labor Committee, has pledged to prioritize consideration of pending legislation proposing greater wage rate adjustments, one of which seeks to enhance the daily minimum salary of all private sector workers by P150.
The Department of Labor and Employment said that the authorized P40 pay hike is set to take effect on July 16 and is expected to directly impact nearly 1.1 million minimum wage laborers in Metro Manila.
An estimated 1.5 million full-time wage and salary workers earning more than the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit from adjustments made at the firm level to eliminate wage distortions, according to the labor department.
