With 20 affirmative votes, Senate Bill 2534 was approved and will be sent to the House of Representatives to await its version there.

Four Senate members – Senators Imee Marcos, Lito Lapid, Cynthia Villar and son, Mark Villar – were not in the session hall when voting took place.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, one of the principal authors of the bill, said the legislated wage hike will be the first since 1989 for Congress if it succeeds in becoming a law.

The on-going minimum wage in the country is pegged at PHP610 per day.

In 1989, congress passed Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act that grants regional wage boards the authority to recommend standard minimum wage within their territories.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada, principal sponsor of SB 2534, rejected calls from employers to reconsider the move to have the bill passed on the floor.

“A higher minimum wage does not only impact on the lives of those directly affected but reverberates throughout our communities, stimulating local economies and ensuring that people would have more money in their pockets to meet their basic needs,” said Estrada.

The Lower House has not yet acted on nine bills proposing for minimum wage hikes for workers.

Among these are House Bill 525 filed by Kabayan Partylist Rep. Ron Salo and HB 4471 by Rep. Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr. that fixes the amount of national minimum wage to PHP750

Also awaiting committee action is HB 514 seeking a PHP150 daily across-the-board hikes in salaries of workers. The measure was filed by Cavite Rep. Ramon Jolo Revilla.