By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
The House of Representatives on Monday night approved on second reading a bill that seeks to give minimum wage workers a P200 daily increase.
In a voice vote, congressmen passed House Bill No. 11376, which is a departure from the across-the-board hike for private sector workers endorsed by the House labor committee.
“The regional wage board system, which for over three decades, has failed Filipino workers and their families with almost all minimum wages falling below the poverty line,” Deputy Speaker and Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza, who authored the bill, told the House floor.
Philippine minimum wages are set by regional wage boards, which drew criticism from lawmakers due to what they perceive as its slow and meager increases amid spiraling prices. The Senate approved a counterpart bill for a P100 daily wage increase for private-sector workers in February last year.
“The daily rate of all minimum wage workers in the private sector, regardless of employment status, including those in contractual and sub-contractual arrangements, whether agricultural or nonagricultural, shall be increased by P200,” according to a copy of the House bill.
Microenterprises in the service sector including retail with 10 workers or fewer may apply for an exemption from the proposed wage increase.
The House also approved on final reading a measure pegging the contribution rate of members of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to 3.5% from 5% now, while also requiring the state-owned insurer to consider expected healthcare spending and socioeconomic factors in setting the contribution rate.
In a 191-3-0 vote, lawmakers approved House Bill No. 11357, which requires PhilHealth to secure congressional approval before being allowed to tweak its contribution rates. It is a priority measure of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s government.
“Premium contributions for direct and indirect contributors shall be derived from actuarially-adjusted rates, considering but not limited to the projected healthcare utilization, cost trends and demographic and economic factors,” according to a copy of the bill.
“The actuarially-adjusted premium rates, as determined by the annual actuarial review, shall be subject to the approval of Congress,” it added.
The bill keeps PhilHealth’s premium rate at 3.5% until an actuarial review of its operations is submitted to Congress.
The 2025 monthly contribution rate for members with an income floor and ceiling of P10,000 and P100,000 stands at 5%.
“An independent body shall review the annual actuarial report prior to its submission to Congress to ensure transparency and accuracy in the findings,” according to the bill.
Meanwhile, the House also passed on final reading a measure that seeks to strengthen cigarette tax administration by implementing a track-and-trace system for all tobacco products.
With 177 congressmen in favor, four against and zero abstention, the House passed House Bill No. 11286, which is supposed to curb cigarette smuggling.
“A tracking and tracing system shall be established for the manufacturing, importation, storage, removal, distribution and sale of tobacco products, cigars, cigarettes, heated tobacco products, vapor products and novel tobacco products,” according to a copy of the bill.
Lawmakers also approved on final reading House Bill No. 11360, which seeks to curb tobacco smuggling by reducing excise taxes.
In a 190-4-0 vote, the House passed the bill setting a P41 tax per package of heated tobacco products, while harmonizing the tax of vapes and cigarettes at P66.15.
The Philippines imposes a tax of P57 per milliliter (ml) on salt nicotine products, P6.30/ml on freebase nicotine products and P65/10 ml on classic nicotine products, according to the excise tax rates prescribed by the Bureau of Customs for 2024.
It amends the Philippine Internal Revenue Code by imposing a 2% tax on tobacco products every even-numbered year starting in 2026; and 4% every odd-numbered year starting in 2027.
The increase will be enforced until Dec. 31, 2035.