SOME legislators and various labor groups are calling for the increase of the minimum wage to P750 in a bid to “ease the suffering” and soften the impact of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law to Filipinos.
The Makabayan bloc, composed of representatives from ACT-Teachers, Gabriela, Anakpawis and Kabataan PartyLists are pushing for a standard National Minimum Wage (NMW) that if enacted, would be applied in the whole country, different from what is implemented today.
Under the present wage system, there is the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and 17 Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) that determines the minimum wages of respective regions. This means that the minimum wage in Metro Manila can be different from the minimum wage in Central Luzon.
House Bill 7787 aims to set the NMW to a national wage standard and under the said legislation being pushed, P750 should be applied as the minimum wage all over the country.
While the minimum wage is far higher in the National Capital Region due to the alleged higher cost of living in Metro Manila, it can be observed that price of goods in the provinces was made at par with the said region due to the increased cost in transporting goods in the countryside. This is just one perhaps among the rationales why the minimum wage is being pushed for standardization in the country.
The difference in the cost of living in urban areas in the country is not that far from the cost of living in rural areas due to the increase of cost in transporting goods and other incremental costs.
In addition, the said lawmakers are calling for the abolition of the Train law that imposes tax on various goods and services in the country. It can be recalled that the said legislation was recently enacted and has since jacked-up prices of basic commodities and services in the country.
The law has increased the disparity between the minimum wage and the prices of goods and services, thus increasing the inflation rate in the country.
While the rich cannot even be tickled by the price increase of commodities, minimum wage earners are now feeling the effects of the tax law that escalated the price of fuel among others, thus increasing the cost of almost everything subject to commerce.
If the minimum wage in the country shall be standardized, it shall somehow alleviate the economic burden that is being faced by majority of Filipino workers who are minimum wage earners and shall help them brace themselves to the impact of the recent tax law.
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