Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO. 253

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES
FERNANDO L. HICAP, NERI JAVIER COLMENARES,
LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN, EMMI DE JESUS, ANTONIO TINIO
AND JAMES MARK TERRY RIDON

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill, also known as the P125 Wage Hike Bill, has been pending in the
House of Representatives for the past twelve (12) years. It was first filed in 2001
by the late Rep. Crispin ‘Ka Bel’ B. Beltran. Counterpart measures were also
filed in the Senate of the Philippines.

Since then, Filipino workers have pressed Congress for the enactment of
a legislated wage hike that will give a reprieve or economic relief to workers and
their families who experience the effects of soaring prices of basic goods, fees for
public services and rates of public utilities and of the ever-worsening domestic
economic crisis in general.

In the 13 Congress, after extensive hearings and discussions involving
stakeholders and parties-in-interest in which the said measure gathered
substantial support from legislators, it was approved by the House Committee
on Labor and Employment.

After which, the said bill was deliberated in the plenary. It was passed in
the second and third readings but unfortunately was not transmitted to the
Senate due to technicalities.

Anakpawis Party-list continued to file the P125 Wage Hike Bill in the
14% and 15% Congresses. Committee hearings ensued, exhausting the positions
of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), employers’ groups, labor
organizations and trade unions. In the hearings on the said bill that took place
in the House of Representatives main office and in various regions, workers
have showed overwhelming support and demand for the immediate enactment
of a legislated wage hike.

In the 15% Congress, the House Committee on Labor and Employment
approved Committee Report No. 2703 that considered and recommended for
approval without amendments the P125 Wage Hike Bill for workers in the
private sector.

For the past twelve (12) years, the P125 Wage Hike Bill has become the
symbol of national unity and strong clamor of Filipino workers in the private


sector for a significant across-the-board, across-the-country wage increase,
which they say is possible only through legislation.

‘The Filipino labor front is unanimously in agreement that the granting of
a substantial, legislated wage increase for workers is just, necessary and urgent
amidst the growing hunger and poverty among workers and the poor on the one
hand and the growing profit and wealth of an elite few on the other.

The continuous erosion of the real value of wages and the weakening
purchasing power of the peso have further pressed down wage levels across the
country.

While workers’ wages remain pegged to the floor, the government allowed
the rising cost of goods and services and constant increases in the rates of
public utilities such as fares, water and electricity and oil prices that brought
about damaging effects to the peoples’ livelihood.

‘The annual wage increases approved and implemented by the regional
tripartite wages and productivity boards (RTWPBs) are very meager and far from
enough to provide a-much needed economic relief for workers. Wage boards
have in fact, served their purpose of sealing the profit margins of employers by
implementing very low wage adjustments.

In 2012, the Aquino administration, through DOLE, implemented the
Two-Tiered Wage System which allowed for a productivity-based wage system
on top of a mandatory floor wage. This system of wage determination further
scaled down workers’ wages and undermined the historical gains of workers
and labor unions in their collective struggles for wage increases.

‘These conditions and realities all the more warrant the immediate and
inevitable need for a legislated, across-the-board, across-the-country wage
increase for workers in the private sector.

It is clearly stated in Section I, Article XIII of the Philippine Constitution
that,’Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that
protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social,
economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably
diffusing wealth and political power for the common good."

In particular, it is the duty of the State to "promote social justice,
including the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of
initiative and self-reliance. (Section 2, Article 13, 1987 Philippine Constitution)

It is also clear that “the Stateshall afford full protection to labor, local and
overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote full employment and
equality of employment opportunities for all. It shall guarantee the rights of all
workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations, and peaceful
concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They
shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living
wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes
affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law." (paragraphs 1 and
2, Section 3, Article 13,1987 Philippine Constitution).


In the interest of promotion of social justice for all Filipino working people
and their families, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
253

HOUSE BILL NO.

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES
FERNANDO L. HICAP, NERI JAVIER COLMENARES,
LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN, EMMI DE JESUS, ANTONIO TINIO
AND JAMES MARK TERRY RIDON

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A P125.00 DAILY ACROSS-THE-BOARD INCREASE IN THE
SALARY RATES OF EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1.This Act shall be known and cited as the “P125 Daily
Across-the-Board Wage Increase Act”.

SECTION 2.It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to alleviate
the living conditions of the ordinary Filipino through policies that provide for
decent and humane standard of living and improved quality of life, particularly
of the working class; to ensure the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of
production; to guarantee the workers’ right to a living wage; and to promote
social justice through the adoption of measures calculated to ensure the well-
being and economic security of all the members of the community.

SECTION 3.All employers in the private sector, whether agricultural or
non-agricultural, regardless of capitalization and number of employees shall pay
their workers an across-the-board wage increase in the sum of One Hundred
Twenty Five Pesos (P125.00) per day upon the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 4.No wage increase shall be credited as a compliance with the
increase prescribed herein, unless expressly provided under the Collective
Bargaining Agreements:Provided, That such wage increase was granted in
anticipation of the legislated across-the-board wage increase under this Act, the
employer shall pay the difference. Such increases shall not include anniversary
wage increases, merit wage increases and those resulting from regularization
and promotion of employees.

SECTION 5.Nothing in this Act shall be construed to reduce any existing
allowance and benefit of any form under existing laws, decrees, issuances,
executive orders, and any contract or agreements between workers and
employers.


SECTION 6.TheDepartment of Labor and Employment shall, upon
approval of this Act, conduct inspection of the payroll and other financial
records kept by the company business to determine whether the workers are
paid the prescribed across-the-board increase and other benefits granted by law
in unionized companies, the Department of Labor and Employment inspectors
shall always be accompanied by the president or'any responsible officer of the
recognized bargaining unit or of any interested union in the conduct of the
inspection. In unionized companies, establishments or businesses, the
inspection should be carried out in the presence of a worker representing the
workers of the said company. The workers’ representative shall have the right to
submit his own findings to the Department of Labor and Employment and to
testify on the same if he/she cannot concur with the findings of the labor
inspector.

SECTION 7.Any person, corporation, trust, firm, partnership association
or any entity violating any provision of this Act shall be punished by a fine not
less than Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00) nor more than One
Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than two
(2) years nor more than four (4) years or both such fine and imprisonment at
the discretion of the court;

Provided, That if the violation is committed by a corporation, trust or
firm, association or any other entity, the penalty of imprisonment shall be
imposed upon the entity's responsible officers, including but not limited to, the
president, vice-president, chief executive officer, general manager, managing
director or partner.

The employer concerned shall be ordered to pay an amount equivalent to
double the unpaid benefits owing to the employees: Provided, That payment of
indemnity shall not absolve the employer ftom the criminal liability imposable
under this Act shall not be entitled to the benefits provided for under the
Probation Law.

SECTION 8.The Secretary of Labor and Employment shall promulgate
the necessary implementing rules and regulations to implement this Act

SECTION 9.lf any provision or part of this Act, or the application thereof,
to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder
of this Act or the application of such provision or part thereof to other persons
or circumstances shall be affected thereby.

SECTION 10. All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations
and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 11-This Act shall take effect within fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation, whichever comes earlier.

Approved.