A bill seeking a PHP100 increase in the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector nationwide reached the Senate plenary with Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development chair Jinggoy Estrada pushing for its passage.

Estrada said an estimated 4.2 million minimum wage earners in the private sector would benefit from Senate Bill (SB) 2534.

“Under this measure, all employees in the private sector in the entire country, whether agricultural or non-agricultural, are entitled to (a) PHP100 minimum wage increase,” Estrada said in his sponsorship speech.

SB 2534, he said, augments the wage increases already issued by the regional wage boards.

“Thus, after consideration of the existing socio-economic conditions and positions of various sectors, it is incumbent upon us to propose a daily pay hike to help alleviate the burden of Filipinos in the face of soaring prices of basic commodities and rising cost of living,” he added.

Estrada also pointed out that if passed into law, the measure would also result in increased purchasing power among consumers and would stimulate economic activity, thereby contributing to national growth.

“This wage hike bill would also help attain our goal of reducing poverty incidence rate in the coming years to have a prosperous, predominantly middle-class society where no one is poor by 2040,” he said.

He said under the Philippine Development Plan, the government is targeting to reduce the poverty incidence rate to 13.2 percent by 2025 and to 9 percent by 2028.

SB 2534 is a consolidation of SB 2002 filed by Senate President Zubiri, with Senate Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and Senators Nancy Binay, and Christopher Lawrence Go as co-authors, and SB 2018 by Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. (PNA)