By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. will study the impact of a legislated wage hike, the presidential palace said on Tuesday, after senators and congressmen filed separate bills seeking to revive the lobby.

“Again, we will study whether this is really feasible, because if it causes layoffs, as most small business owners cannot afford it, more workers will suffer because they may lose their jobs,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing.

Lawmakers adjourned last month without meeting to reconcile disagreeing provisions of their bills at a bicameral conference committee after economic managers warned that the measure would have “dangerous repercussions” on the Philippine economy.

The Senate had approved a P100 increase, while the House of Representatives pushed a P200 hike.

Ms. Castro said the government has been holding job fairs nationwide to open job opportunities for about 170,000 workers since 2022.

“As we have been saying for a long time, (the President) is really creating programs to make life easier for every Filipino worker,” she said.

Several lawmakers on Monday refiled bills seeking to impose an across-the-board pay hike for workers in the private sector.

Senator Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla sought a P150 pay hike, while Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go proposed a P100 across-the-board pay rise, similar to the Senate’s version in the 19^th Congress.

Meanwhile, Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza filed a bill for a P200 across-the-board wage hike, while Party-list Rep. Elijah R. San Fernando sought to abolish regional wage boards.

Labor group Partido Manggagawa spokesman Lawrence Cusipag said the labor sector would continue to push a legislated wage hike before the incoming Congress.

“With the 20^th Congress convening on July 28 and despite the P50 wage order in Metro Manila yesterday, we reiterate our demand for a P200 salary adjustment that is nationwide and across the board so that all workers benefit,” he said in a statement.

The National Wages and Productivity Commission on Monday approved a P50 daily pay increase for minimum wage workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), which is expected to benefit about 1.2 million Filipino workers.

The daily pay hike is equivalent to a P1,100 monthly increase for a five-day work week or a P1,300 increase for those working six days a week, according to the Labor department.

“It is the high-profile campaign of the labor movement for a P200 legislated increase that nudged the NCR wage board to enact the highest ever amount of minimum hike in the region,” he added.

Mr. Cusipag said an across-the-board pay hike would also benefit informal workers and micro entrepreneurs through the “robust purchasing power of formal workers.”