ON the eve of the President’s third State of the Nation Address, organized labor groups brought to the attention of the Chief Executive their call for a P150 across-the-board legislated wage increase for a meaningful difference in the lives of Filipino workers.
The National Wage Coalition, composed TUCP, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, and Federation of Free Workers, among other workers’ organization will be staging a march rally at the University Avenue corner Commonwealth Avenue toward the compound of the Commission on Human Rights at UP Diliman, Quezon City.
FFW President Sonny Matula said on Sunday that the coalition would call for an urgent P150 wage recovery for workers across the country as he criticized the administration’s “blueprint” for economic and social transformation over the next six years.
The blueprint for the Philippine Development Plan, according to Matula, is a daunting task, but its projection that the Philippines could achieve upper middle-income status by 2025 is achievable.
But the group said the plan might just be empty promises, adding that “without concrete actions to address wage recovery for Filipino workers, the middle income aspiration is a farce.”
“The so-called blueprint for economic and social transformation will be meaningless if it fails to uplift the standard of living for our workers. Wage recovery is essential for ensuring that economic growth benefits all Filipinos, not just a select few,” it added.
“Even if the Philippines’ gross domestic product expands by 6 percent or higher annually, this growth will not ensure a significant increase in Filipino incomes if there is no wage increase implemented nationwide. People will still wallow in poverty wages,” added Matula.
“The Filipino workforce is struggling to survive on wages that do not reflect the rising cost of living,” the Coalition said. “Our call for a P150 wage recovery is a call for justice and economic survival for millions of Filipino families.”
It also called on Speaker Martin Romualdez not to further dribble but “dunk and not junk” the P150 wage recovery wage bill to the goal of legislation and for the President to expedite its passage into law.
At the same time, the group demanded the immediate rescinding of DoF Circular 003-2024 illegally ordering the transfer of P90 billion of PhilHealth fund to the National Treasury and subsequently to return the P20 billion already taken from PhilHealth.
“Failure to meet this demand, the coalition is prepared to take the matter to the streets and to the Supreme Court through a petition for certiorari,” said Matula.
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