Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon.

As the Third speaker of the affirmative bench, let

me enlighten you why it is practicable to increase the minimum wage of private sectors to
P100. Here are the three reasons why.

1. The National Budget can afford the profit cut (Finance)

The Philippines has experienced a healthy growth to its GDP. The International Monetary
Fund recently reported that the Philippine economy had rebounded strongly from the
Pandemic. The current GDP of the Philippines sits at a comfortable 5.6 Percent, above other
SEA nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Philippine
Statistics Authority attributed the increase to Financial and insurance activities at 11.8%;
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles at 5.2&; and
Construction at 8.5%.

Taking into account foreign investment being the driving point of the Philippines, the country
is well on its way to a prosperous year in spite of El Nino. According to news outlet
VOAnews (Voice of America), The United States of America has pledged more than 1 billion
dollars to the Philippines, introducing big corporations like Fedex, Google and Microsoft to
name a few. During a press briefing, U.S. Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, stated that
these investments shall create educational opportunities to over 30 million Filipinos, leading
to higher paying jobs with digitalization.

Even taking those out of the equation, in our current economic landscape, the Philippines
can most certainly afford the wage hike.

The IBON Foundation has conducted a study detailing the percentages of profit cuts that
firms will have to take, and it’s not that much.

Using data from the latest 2021 Annual Survey of Philippine Business Industry (ASPBI) from
38,000 respondents, and on average daily basic pay in the same year from the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA), IBON estimates that even a Php100 across-the-board (ATB)
wage hike is equivalent to just a tiny 7.1% of private establishment profits. Employers can
easily afford to absorb this wage hike and don’t have to pass this on into higher prices of
their goods and services.

The impact on profits is only slightly more in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
than in large enterprises. The Php100 A-T-B hike is equivalent to just 7.5% of MSME profits
—-7.9% in micro, 7.6% in small and 6.7% in medium size firms—and to just 6.7% of large
establishment profits.

Furthermore, in a study conducted by the Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2024, 44
percent of employers expressed the intent to provide this much salary, while 34 percent said
they intend to make an upward adjustment of 1% to 5%.

In the same survey, which was conducted during the third quarter of 2023 among 2,000
respondents, the remaining 15 percent of employers said they want to implement a salary
hike of 11 percent and above in 2024.

Thus, businesses in the Philippines can afford the wage hike for their workers.
 2. The Bill holds measures that ensures workers receive their correct wages

Looking at the proposed bill’s sections, section 4, 7 and 10 standout as safeguards. Section
4 being Correction of Wage Distortion, if ever; section 7 being the Inspection by the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); and section 10 being the Implementation of
Rules and Regulations which states that the Secretary of Labor and Employment shall
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act,
thus favoring labor above all else.

These highlighted sections give brevity and clarity for the swift implementation of the article,
thus providing a sense of ease for workers apprehensive of the bill’s passage.

(Not strong, might need help revising this section)

3. Present consensus of the private sector workers

The current price index of the Philippines has seen a surge in inflation. According to the
Philippine Statistic Authority the current inflation rate of the Philippines is 3.4%, an increase
of .6% from the previous month’s 2.8%. Reasons for the February 2024 inflation were food
and non-alcoholic beverages (1.7%), restaurants and accommodation services (0.5%), and
housing rentals (0.4%). With this uptrend, it is no wonder that the workers are clamoring for
a wage hike.

A point worth noting is that recent consensus has shown that labor groups and employees
have been positively elated for the passage of the P100 peso wage hike to the House of
Representatives. Workers from the private sectors have been lobbying for a P100 increase
in their minimum wages and with the third-reading from the Senate garnering unanimous
approval, their calls for an increase have finally been answered. The Trade Union Congress
of the Philippines (TUCP) has also backed the proposed bill, and the Federation of Free
Workers (FFW) looks forward to the increase.

The labor groups of the private sectors continue to clamor for the increase and are excitedly
expecting for Labor Day, where they anticipate the announcement of a wage hike decree
from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.