125 solons sign up for legislated wage hike

From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran
Reference: Rep. Crispin Beltran
Lisa C. Ito, Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006
Tel. # (+632) 931-6615
URL: http://www.geocities.com/ap_news

*NEWS RELEASE
February 13, 2006

Update on P125 wage hike bill:
125 solons sign up for legislated wage hike, Rep. Beltran urges others to
follow suit

*"We already have 125 solons strongly supporting a legislated wage hike. And
we hope to clinch more support in the coming days to clinch the 119 'yes'
votes needed to finally approve the passage of the House Bill (HB) No. 345,
or the P125 wage hike bill," Anakpawis Party List Rep. Crispin Beltan today
said.

The House Committee on Labor and Employment's January 2006 report tallied
125 legislators 'commitment of support for a legislated wage increase to
alleviate the present economic conditions of the workers in the
country'. HB 345 is currently under the period of amendments.

Beltran said that the 'best Valentines' Gift that that the 13th Congress
could give workers in the private sector is the passage of the P125
legislated wage hike, and nothing less".

"The passage of a legislated, nationwide, and across-the-board P125 wage
hike for workers and P3,000 salary hike for government employees is of the
outmost urgency in order to restore the real purchasing power of the peso
and raise incomes closer to the estimated daily cost of living," Beltran
said.

Beltran cited studies by independent think tank IBON foundation saying that
the real value of the minimum wage in the NCR has declined to P240.50 from
P256.75 in the same period last year. IBON also asserted that 8 out of 10
families or some 83% of the country's families are poor, based on the
January 2006 national average daily cost of living for a family of six of
P538.80 and the 2003 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES).

The veteran labor leader said that workers from the public and private
sector will be pressing for the passage of two HBs as an urgent
poverty-alleviation measure. "Representatives from the Kilusang Mayo Uno
(KMU) are scheduled to lobby for the passage of HB No. 345 at the House of
Representatives today. Tomorrow, government employees in solidarity with the
Confederation of Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees
(COURAGE) will spending Valentines' Day lobbying in the parliament of the
streets for the passage of HB 1064 for an across-the-board P3,000 salary
hike," Beltran said.

"It is high time that Congress passes a significant legislated wage hike
bill for workers in the public and private sectors. Five years have passed
yet nothing has come out of previous and painstaking efforts to improve the
lives of 16 million workers and their families," Beltran said.

"The first legislative action for a P125 across-the-board wage increase
kicked off during the 11th Congress in 1998 with the filing of House Bills
1390 and 8459.The House leadership failed to calendar these bills and these
remained stagnant until the end of the 11th Congress. The P125 legislated
wage hike campaign was revived in the 12th Congress with the filing of House
Bills 2605 and 2623 which were approved at the Committee level but were
never taken up in plenary," Beltran recalled.

"Now that costs of living have risen to sky-rocketing levels, the HB No. 345
and HB 1064 should be given priority by the Lower House," he said. Come
voting time, we hope to see these 125 solons (or more) voting in favor of
the P125 wage hike," Beltran said. ###