The House of Representatives’ committee on labor and employment chair and Rizal 4th District Rep. Fidel Nograles believes that the government should aggressively move to bring down the cost of basic goods as a complement to a wage hike.
“Our efforts to improve workers’ quality of life should not stop with a wage hike. We also need to aggressively move to lessen the cost of commodities to increase workers’ purchasing power,” Nograles said.
The solon expressed optimism that the Marcos administration “also recognizes these issues and is exerting great effort to to address them.”
This, after the regional wage board approved a P40 increase in the minimum wage in the National Capital Region, which takes effect on July 16.
With the wage adjustment, the daily minimum wage rate in Metro Manila would be raised to P610 from P570.
There are also 10 other wage hike petitions that are pending with various Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs), the Department of Labor and Employment announced in May.
Nograles hailed the wage increase, though he admitted that workers might consider it a pittance considering the soaring prices of goods.
This is why parallel efforts should be implemented in the agriculture and transport sectors so that workers pay less for food and transportation, the lawmaker said.
“We need to have a balanced response to the issues that our workers face. Hindi lang wage increase ang solusyon. Kailangan din nating ayusin nang sabay ang problema sa agrikultura at transportasyon para mas malaki ang take-home pay ng mga kababayan natin,” said Nograles.
The solon expressed optimism that the Marcos administration “also recognizes these issues and is exerting great effort to to address them.”
Nograles also vowed that Congress would continue deliberating on the various proposals to increase wages once session resumes this month.
“Patuloy po ang pagsusuri natin para masiguro na epektibo at tunay na solusyon ang mailalabas nating batas,” he said.
