THE GOVERNMENT of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. should double its efforts to address poverty, a lack of livelihood opportunities, low wages among other issues amid increasing prices of basic goods, human rights group iDefend said on Sunday.
This comes ahead of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights review of the Philippine human rights situation from Feb. 18 to 19 in Geneva.
“The Philippine government has failed to implement structural reforms necessary to address the high incidence of poverty, lack of livelihood opportunities, inadequate wages, high inflation rates, and food insecurity leaving the Filipino people,” the watchdog said in a statement.
Philippine lawmakers and civic groups have called on the government to prioritize legislated wage hike proposals to help workers cope with the high prices of goods, transportation, and monthly utility bills.
The House of Representatives approved on second reading a bill that seeks to give minimum wage workers a P200 daily increase.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region in July last year approved a P35 minimum wage hike for workers in Metro Manila, bringing the daily pay for nonagricultural workers to P645.
This was way lower than the petitions filed by labor groups seeking monthly pay increases of P597 to P750.
“These economic disparities persist, leaving a significant portion of the population unable to fully enjoy their basic rights to food, health, housing, work, and education,” iDefend said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
