More pay, but ensure viability of businesses

The House of Representatives has just passed a bill mandating a P200 daily wage increase for minimum wage private-sector workers.

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It’s a bold move which underscores that the Filipino worker deserves more. In an economy where inflation eats into every peso, and where the cost of living has risen far beyond stagnant wages, this proposed raise brings hope for Filipino workers. Amid the cheers, uncertainty is quietly brewing.

For a minimum-wage worker, the extra P200 each day is approximately P4,800 a month. It’s no small amount. This is enough to put food on the table more regularly, to pay for medicines, and to send a child to school with dignity. It is, without question, a step toward economic justice. For too long, the Filipino labor force—one of the most resilient and hard-working in the world—has carried the burden of rising prices without a corresponding rise in income. This wage increase seeks to correct that imbalance, and morally, it is hard to argue against.

However, it would be dangerously naive to focus solely on the side of the labor force.