MANILA — The Department of Labor and Employment said a "balanced solution" is needed on the proposed P150 across-the-board minimum wage hike for private sector workers.

In an ANC interview Friday, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma also assured Filipino workers the agency is not sitting on the wage hike petitions, saying the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards have been actively assessing them.

"I would not want to preempt also what the Senate committee would be coming up... The important thing is that they recognized the need for a serious consideration. The fact that they created [and] approved a technical working group is an indication that they also recognized that there is a need for them to look at a balanced solution," he told "Headstart".

Senate President Miguel Zubiri has filed a bill seeking to increase the daily wage of private sector employees by P150 or an increase of about P3,000 a month.

Micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs represent 99 percent of enterprises in the country, the 2021 list of establishments of the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

• Senate bill layon ang P150 across-the-board wage hike

For the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, members of micro industries may not afford the proposed wage hike.

ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said many businesses have yet to recover from pandemic-induced losses.

"I don't think they can. Even their weekly or monthly salary, they have a problem meeting it," he also told "Headstart".

At present, Metro Manila has the highest daily nominal wage rate at P570 per non-agriculture while the lowest is at P316 also non-agriculture for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

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