Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri announces that the Senate may pass the 150 pesos wage hike bill before the chamber adjourns this June.

Zubiri gave the assurance after the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources approved his proposed Across-the-board Wage Increase Act or Senate bill no. 2022″ that seeks to increase the minimum wage hike by P150 across the board for the entire country. A wage hike is necessary because the last legislated minimum wage increase was in 1989 before the passage of Republic Act 6727m, which created the Regional Wage Boards.

Comparing wages with other ASEAN countries, Zubiri noted that Filipino workers deserved an increase since other ASEAN countries like Indonesia and Malaysia give at least 850 pesos per day for wages. In comparison, Singapore legislates a 2,486 pesos per day daily salary.

Zubiri hopes to address concerns about how Small and Medium-sized businesses could cope with these proposed wage hikes. The Senate intends to pass a proposed graduated wage increase scheme for SMEs.

The senate president appealed to big business to support the measure, saying that the economy had now recovered from the pandemic slump and the higher chamber had already passed support measures that benefitted big firms.