THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Friday, May 30, 2025, assured the labor sector that the introduction of the "Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na" program to minimum wage earners is not meant to counter the persistent push for the passage of the P200 legislated wage hike proposal.
In a radio interview, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said they are not looking to counter the push for a law mandating a P200 wage increase by promoting the P20 per kilogram of rice.
"We are allowing the process to run in Congress with regards to the proposed P200 legislated wage increase," said Laguesma.
"We never intend to use the BBM Na program as a counter to it," he added.
Laguesma issued the statement after the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said it would be better if the government will just pass the law granting additional P200 pay for workers.
This, the labor group said, is instead of having only a handful of minimum wage earners benefiting from the P20 per kilo rice program.
Laguesma said the BBM Na program is being extended to minimum wage earners as a parallel poverty alleviation scheme of the government.
"If we have such programs, where minimum wage earners can benefit from, why not try it?" the labor chief said.
He related that they have ordered all DOLE regional directors to ensure that only qualified individuals will benefit from the pilot testing of the program.
"We ordered them to coordinate with private companies in their respective areas to ensure that eligible workers will be the beneficiaries," said Laguesma. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)