Sen. Joel Villanueva (File photo)
MANILA, Philippine 鈥� Two senators on Friday fumed over an allegation from the House of Representatives that the Senate killed the wage hike bill.
鈥淚t was dead on arrival because of the intransigence of some to have a measure that is more realistic and more acceptable to all stakeholders,鈥� Sen. Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate committee on labor, said in a statement.
鈥淪tudy first before you squawk,鈥� he also said, challenging the kill remark of House spokesperson Princess Abante.
Abante blamed the Senate for its supposed refusal to negotiate with the House and insisted on its version of the bill, which proposes a P100 daily minimum wage hike. The House version calls for a P200 increase.
Timeline of the dispute
On Wednesday, Congress adjourned sine die without approving the wage hike measure.
For Villanueva, it was the House that 鈥渟et the stage鈥� for the wage hike bill鈥檚 failure.
聽鈥淭hey never had any intention of passing this measure in the first place,鈥� he pointed out.
Villanueva noted that the Senate approved the P100 wage hike bill on February 19, 2024, or more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, it took the House two years to approve its own version of the measure, which was originally filed on May 8, 2023.
The House passed on final reading the P200 wage increase bill on June 4, but a copy of it was transmitted to the Senate only a day before the adjournment of Congress on June 11.
鈥淲e urged them to adopt the Senate version, given the limited time remaining to pass this important measure in the 19th Congress,鈥� Villanueva remembered.
He also belied Abante鈥檚 claim that the Senate did not want to talk with the House.
After the Senate session on June 10, Villanueva said he and Senate President Francis 鈥淐hiz鈥� Escudero spoke with some of the House conferees to reiterate their appeal to just adopt the Senate version.
He said they were informed that the House was amenable to adopting the Senate version, only to learn on social media the following day that the lower chamber rejected their proposal.
鈥淲e could have had a landmark law for our hardworking Filipinos if only we allowed realism and sincerity to rule over false pretense,鈥� Villanueva said.
Estrada鈥檚 response
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada called the House spokesperson a 鈥渓iar鈥� for accusing the Senate of killing the wage hike bill.
鈥淔irst of all, the spokesperson of the House, Princess Abante 鈥� she should do a lot of research before opening her mouth. To begin with, she said that the Senate killed the legislated wage hike 鈥� that is not true,鈥� Estrada said in a Zoom interview.
He echoed Villanueva鈥檚 assertion that the Senate already passed the wage hike bill a year ago, while the House approved it just last week.
It was only during the last session days of Congress that the House was rushing the Senate to sit down in a bicameral conference committee so they could reconcile the differences in their versions of the wage hike proposal, Estrada noted.
But he said he rejected it and insisted that the House just adopt the Senate version.
鈥淚 said I wouldn鈥檛 agree to that. I told them to just adopt the Senate version to make things easier. They still had one more session 鈥� one more day 鈥� before adjourning sine die. But they didn鈥檛 do anything,鈥� the senator recalled.
鈥淎nd then the spokesperson of the House of Representatives would say that we killed the legislated wage hike 鈥� that鈥檚 not true. She鈥檚 a liar. She鈥檚 so new and yet she is not researching,鈥� he added./apl
NOTE: The English translations in the article were AI-generated.