MANILA, Philippines — With the soaring prices of fuel, food and consumer goods, former senator and UniTeam senatorial candidate Jinggoy Estrada on Thursday called on the country’s regional wage boards to approve wage hike petitions in time for Labor Day.
“It’s been more than a month since I joined the workers’ clamor for a wage increase. What’s taking the wage boards so long to approve it?” Estrada asked.
The former senator said the unabated increase in fuel prices is putting a lot of strain on the already tight budget of Filipino households.
“To honor Filipino workers this Labor Day, I think a wage hike is well-deserved and well-timed. It’s the best gift we can give our workers and their families,” Estrada stressed.
“Even before the pandemic, the average minimum wage of workers is already insufficient to make ends meet. With the spike in global crude oil and food prices due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the low take home pay of workers has been a critical problem,” he noted.