A YouTube video is claiming that the daily minimum wage in the country will be increased to P1,000. This is false. While there are pending bills in Congress seeking a hefty pay rise, no law has been passed or any directive issued by the labor department mandating a wage hike.
The erroneous video was uploaded on Feb. 16, a day after the Senate passed on second reading a bill seeking a P100 daily wage increase for private sector workers. It bore the following text in its thumbnail:
“GRABI NAKAKAGULAT ITO. BUONG PILIPINAS MAY DAGDAG PASAHOD. GAGAWING P1000 PER DAY MIN. WAGE. LAHAT MATUTUWA SA BALITA ITO.
(Wow, this is shocking. The whole Philippines will get a wage increase. Minimum wage per day will be P1000. Everyone will be happy with this news).”
At the beginning of the video, an anonymous narrator also said that the House of Representatives is looking to increase the minimum wage by P300:
“Posibleng umabot na sa P1000 ang sinasahod ng mga minimum wage earner sa buong Pilipinas… Dahil nakukulangan ang House of Representatives sa P100 umento sa sahod, binabalak tuloy ng Kamara na gawing P300 ang taas nito
(It’s possible that minimum wage earners across the country will earn as high as P1000. Because the House of Representatives feels that a P100 hike is insufficient, they are now planning to increase it by P300).”
According to the Department of Labor and Employment, Metro Manila has the highest daily minimum wage rate of P573 to P610 among the country’s 17 regions. Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has the lowest basic pay rate amounting to P316 to P361 per day.
House Deputy Majority Leader Janet Garin said on Feb. 15 that Congress is studying the possibility of a P350 to P400 wage increase, saying that the P100 daily rate approved by the Senate is too low.
On Feb. 19, the Senate passed on third reading a bill mandating a P100 wage hike for private sector workers in the country. But before that bill officially becomes a law, the House would also need to pass a counterpart measure.
Once both the House and Senate give their final approval to a bill, it will be transmitted to the president for his signature.
Some members of the Lower House expressed reservations over the Senate-approved wage hike claiming it would hurt small businesses and worsen inflation. This was also expressed by national business associations.
However, a report from IBON Foundation said that a P100 wage increase is unlikely to have a negative impact on employers and businesses:
“A Php100 across-the-board 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.”
Source: Sonny Africa, “The excuses they give: Kung ayaw ng wage hike, maraming dahilan,” IBON Foundation, Feb. 20, 2024
The erroneous video was uploaded by YouTube channels Melvs Castle, WANGBUDISS TV and KuyaJho TV, garnering a total of 26,734 interactions. Facebook users also reposted the links.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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