Senate denies ‘killing’ wage hike bill, laments House delay

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

Escudero stressed that if the House had wanted to adopt the Senate version, it only needed to manifest this in plenary — a process that would have allowed the bill to be transmitted directly to Malacañang for the President’s signature. (File photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and key senators on Friday pushed back against criticism that the upper chamber “killed” the wage hike bill, saying that the House of Representatives had over a year to act on it but waited until the final days of the session.

“This is a classic case of passing the buck,” Escudero said in a statement, adding that the Senate passed its version of a bill seeking a PHP100 daily wage increase for private sector workers as early as February 2024.

“Bakit ba kung kailan huli biglang sasabihin dine-delay namin at wala kaming oras para i-adopt ‘yung kapapadala lang nila (Why are they suddenly blaming us for delays when they only sent their version at the last minute)?” he said.

Escudero stressed that if the House had wanted to adopt the Senate version, it only needed to manifest this in plenary — a process that would have allowed the bill to be transmitted directly to Malacañang for the President’s signature.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, confirmed that both he and Escudero met with House leaders and were told the lower chamber was amenable to adopting the Senate version.

But instead of formalizing this, Villanueva said the House only transmitted the required third reading copy of its PHP200 version on June 11, the last day of the session.

“We passed this measure more than a year ago. We were able to get the official third reading copy of the House of Representatives 48 hours before we would adjourn,” Villanueva pointed out.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who originally filed the Senate’s wage hike bill, expressed frustration over the House’s insistence on a PHP200 daily increase without data to support its feasibility.

“We would like to inform our workers that the Senate did its best to fight for the rights and fiscal incentive of having another PHP100 a day increase. Obviously, if we adopt the PHP200 minimum wage bill, mabi-veto ni Presidente ‘yan (the President will veto that), and if that will be vetoed, you torpedo the measure and it looks bad on everyone,” Zubiri said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada echoed the sentiment, saying the House had more than 16 months to act on the measure but only did so two days before sine die adjournment.

“She should do a lot of research before opening her mouth,” Estrada said, referring to House spokesperson Princess Abante, who had earlier accused the Senate of “killing” the PHP200 version.

“We passed our version more than a year ago. It was the House that waited until the last minute,” he said.

Estrada said he even advised TUCP Rep. Raymond Mendoza to simply adopt the Senate version to avoid bicameral delays, but the House allegedly declined.

Senators stressed that time constraints could have been avoided if the House had acted earlier. They also pointed out that adoption of the other chamber’s version without a bicam is not unprecedented.

Senate Bill No. 2534, approved in February 2024, sought a PHP100 wage hike based on committee hearings and economic studies.

Escudero reiterated that both chambers must now refile their respective versions in the next Congress.