WORKERS group commend the House of Representatives Committee on Labor and Employment for passing House Bill 375, which seeks to legislate a P125 across-the-board wage hike nationwide, in its meeting today.
The Kilusang Mayo Uno likewise commend the House Subcommittee on Labor Standards which approved the said bill last Jan. 18.
“We are glad that the COLE, led by Northern Samar Rep. Emil L. Ong, has mustered a quorum and enough political nerve to unanimously approve the P125 Wage Hike Bill despite Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s and big capitalists’ stated opposition to the measure,” Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson, said.
The grooup urged the legislsators for the immediate transmittal of the bill to the the Secretary-General of the House for its immediate scheduling for deliberations and voting at the plenary. Given the Aquino government’s policies, the prices of basic goods and services are bound to increase in the coming weeks and months and the bill’s passage is bound to become even more urgent.
Labor said “We are glad that under the new rules approved by the 15th Congress, bills that have been passed at the committee level will be considered approved at the committtee level and will not start from Step 1 when the 16th Congress opens”.
KMU also urged the Senate to do its part in conducting hearings and then passing Senate Bill 1981, HB 375’s counterpart authored by Sen. Ramon Revilla, Jr.
“We are not assuaged by promises that the Senate will promptly process SB 1981 the moment Congress approves HB 375,” the group said.
Since 1989, the country’s regional wage boards have pressed down wages and the gap between the minimum wage and the daily cost of living has widened. The Filipino workers and people need a significant wage hike as a form of immediate relief. They urgently need and fully deserve the passage of the P125 Wage Hike Bill.