TRANSCRIPT OF INTERPELLATION
Senator Risa Hontiveros' interpellation on the P100 wage hike bill
February 13, 2024

Senator Risa Hontiveros (SRH): Salamat po, Mr. President. Good gentleman from San Juan, good sponsor, maaari po bang makapagtanong din dito sa ating panukala?

Senator Jinggoy Estrada (SJE): Gladly, Mr. President.

SRH: Thank you, good sponsor. Actually, bago yung mga nakahanda kong mga tanong, habang pinakikinggan ko po yung interpellation sa inyo ng ating good gentleman mula sa Cavite, at pinaalala po ninyong dalawa yung panukala 35 years ago na P125 across-the-board wage increase, kaya't naisip ko mula dun sa original na panukala ninyo, good sponsor na P150, papunta dito sa ating tinatalakay na P100. Ano kaya, ba't hindi naging P125 na lamang muli tulad noon?

SJE: Ngayon po ang pinapanukala po natin ay P100 lamang po, hindi po P125. Yung P125 po, nagbuslo po yan nung nakapagpasa po ang House of Representatives ng isang batas na legislated wage hike na P125 across the board.

At wala pa ho kayo rito, hindi pa ho kayo senador noon. At nandito na po ako noon. At nung na-refer po sa aking committee, ang Committee on Labor, agad-agad po ay nagsagawa tayo ng hearing para maipasa po itong P125 across the board.

Katulad nga na sinabi ko kanina kay Senator Revilla, nung naipasa po ng Senado ang P125 across the board, ay winithdraw naman po ng ibang membro ng House of Representatives ang kanilang sariling batas. Ang sariling panukala na sila mismo ang nag-apruba.

Kaya hindi po natuloy ang P125 across-the-board wage increase.

SRH: Sayang po talaga, good sponsor. At mahiwaga.

SJE: Mahiwaga nga po.

SRH: Naisip ko rin nga, ba't hindi na lang natin inulit yung proseso ngayon at baka magtagumpay ngayon?

SJE: Well, sana po kung maipasa po natin itong panukalang batas neto at maibalik sa House of Representatives, sana po ay gawan nila ng aksyon. Dahil nakita naman natin ng patuloy na pagtaas ng bilihin.

At katulad nga na sinabi ko kanina, yung P610 na tinatanggap ng ating mga manggagawa dito sa Kalakhang Maynila, ay P504 na lang ang purchasing power.

SRH: E kaya nga po itinanong ko, bakit hindi na lang ang ating panukala ay P125 sa halip na P100, good sponsor?

SJE: Originally, Mr. President, ang aking panukalang batas ay P150. Tapos, nagtaas po ang regional wage board ng 40 pesos dito sa Metro Manila. So, from P570, naging P610.

Kaya if I will stick to P150, eh baka marami ng mga magsasarang business establishments. Kaya po, binabaan po natin para tugma pa rin dun sa P150 na original na pinapanukala po natin.

SRH: Sige po, good sponsor. Iwan ko na muna dun sa ngayon yung isyong ito. Dahil tulad din ang tinutukoy nyo na yung minimum wage, ang totoong purchasing power ay mas mababa.

Eh, hindi naman siguro sana magre-reklamo yung mga manggagawa natin sa dagdag P25 wage hike sana, yung pagitan ng kasalukuyang P100. At yung itinatanong ko lang naman na P125 muli.

SJE: Ito pong, kaya naman din po, umabot sa P100. This is also based from the consultations made by the different stakeholders concerned, Mr. President.

SRH: I understand, good sponsor. And as I promised, I'll leave that question here for now. Anyway po, matagal pa po yung ating pinagkakaisang mga adbokasiya dito sa Senado, papunta halimbawa sa isang living wage para sa mga manggagawa na magiging sustainable din sa iba pang stakeholders sa ating ekonomiya. So anyway po, good sponsor.

Paano po tutugon yung sponsor sa hiling ng labor na rebisahin natin yung Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards sa ilalim ng RA 6727? I-review daw po natin yung regional wage boards na yan, kasunod ng inaasahan din po nilang pag-apruba nitong ating P100 wage hike bill.

SJE: Well, according to my staff, there are several proposed bills that we can hear. And probably we can get the inputs of the stakeholders concerned, Mr. President, in the appropriate time, Mr. President.

SRH: Salamat, good sponsor. At naglu-look forward din po ako dyan. Ngayon po, in the Philippines, wages can be increased through three primary mechanisms. Legislative action, tulad nung ginagawa natin ngayon, yung regional wage boards nga po na wage orders nila, at saka collective bargaining agreements.

Apart from these, there's also the possibility of employers themselves, voluntarily raising wages on their own initiative in the exercise of management prerogative, which, however, is not a common practice.

SJE: If I may ask, do you know of any business establishments who volunteered to increase the salaries of their respective workers, Mr. President? Siguro po, good sponsor. I have heard of nothing, Mr. President.

SRH: Kaunti lamang o maliliit lamang, kaya po't hindi na ibabalita. So, kaya ang literature lamang po ay it's not a common practice, so it's a rare practice.

SJE: I agree, Mr. President.

SRH: Maybe so rare na we don't often hear about it. So now, with these current discussions surrounding the regional wage boards' role following the P100 wage hike bill, questions arise.

Halimbawa po, kino-consider ba natin? At magiging bawiin yung authority ng mga regional wage boards mag-issue ng wage orders? At in fact, may contemplation pa tayo ng isang alternatibong wage system na maaring pumalit sa regional wage boards?

SJE: As I mentioned earlier, Mr. President, maybe we can thoroughly review all the proposed bills that are pending before this committee with regard to the regional wage boards, Mr. President.

SRH: Salamat, good sponsor. At siguro once we start deliberating on those bills, bukod sa posibleng pagbabago sa mandates ng regional wage boards, papasok na rin yung posibilidad ng alternative wage systems, kasama na yung kaugnay ng konsepto ng living wage.

SJE: I agree, Mr. President.

SRH: Salamat, good sponsor. Now, Section 3 of our bill states that, "The minimum wage rate of all workers in the private sector, whether agricultural or non-agricultural, shall be increased by P100 a day upon the effectivity of this Act."

Ito po ba, good sponsor, ay magiging across-the-board para maiwasan yung wage distortion?

SJE: Yes, this is across-the-board, but it only applies to minimum wage earners only, Mr. President.

SRH: Okay po. Malinaw po yun. And ano po yung magiging base ng P100 per day increase? Mula ba sa halaga ng wage board orders sa bawat rehiyon?

SJE: You are correct, Mr. President.

SRH: Alright, salamat, good sponsor. At ito, sabi nyo nga po, good sponsor. Only for minimum wage earners. So, ibig bang sabihin, hindi po covered yung managerial employees?

SJE: No. It is not covered, Mr. President.

SRH: Alright. Ngayon, ito po bang measure, iko-cover din yung mga micro-enterprises?

SJE: If it is less than 10, I don't think so, Mr. President.

SRH: Ah, okay. So, kung less than 10, ah, kung 10, kung micro-enterprises na less than 10 employees, hindi mako-cover nito, paano naman po yung mga manggagawa sa mga micro-enterprises na yan?

SJE: Mr. President, ah, as a general rule, ah, kasama po ang micro-enterprises.

But if they have a certification from the Department of Trade and Industry, as a barangay micro-enterprise, I think they can. They are not covered, no? They are not covered. I think they are not covered, Mr. President.

SRH: Okay. Kung meron nga silang certification, DTI certification bilang barangay micro-enterprise, at less than 10 employees po sila, itong mga micro-enterprises na ito. So, paano na nga po itong mga empleyado nila na hindi makikinabang dito sa ating P100 wage hike bill?

SJE: With regard to the question of our colleague, ah, Senator Risa, Mr. President, there are only, according to the, ah, representatives from the Department of Labor who are present right here today, ah, there are only 56,000 BMBE establishments all over the country.

And we have the BMBE law, RA 9178, that exempts them from the coverage of the minimum wage law, Mr. President. And because of the minimum capitalization of only P3 million, I think they are exempted from the minimum wage law, Mr. President.

SRH: I understand that, good sponsor. Ang mahirap lamang ay, 90% of formal labor actually are in micro-enterprises. So, kung exempted sila or magiging exempt sila dito sa ating P100 wage hike bill, ibig sabihin, 10% lang ng formal labor ay makikinabang dito.

I'm not saying na sitwasyon nito na imposibleng ma-resolve kasi may kasabay naman akong tanong na kung maisasama, pati yung mga empleyado sa micro-enterprises, which actually are, yun nga, 90% of formal labor, dapat pa rin nating itanong, may mga paraan bang i-mitigate yung impact dun sa micro-enterprises?

Considering, yung micro-enterprises din lang ang dumami or tumaas ang bilang nung pandemic, so may pinakita silang resilience. At, siyempre, kailangan din naman natin pangalagaan ng interes ng mga maliliit na entrepreneurs, good sponsor.

SJE: Yes, thank you, Mr. President. I agree with you, Mr. President. But, siguro at the appropriate time, maybe we can welcome any proposed amendments coming from your honor, Mr. President, with regard to the BMBE law, Mr. President.

SRH: Salamat, good sponsor. So, based on that agreement of the good sponsor that 90%, formal labor are in market, micro-enterprises, at yung agreement din nila na kailangan din nga nating pangalagaan ng interes ng mga maliliit na entrepreneur, then I look forward to, at the proper time, proposing amendments para sa konsiderasyon ng good sponsor. Maraming salamat po sa inyo.