UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque cautions against any wage hike amid the country’s economic woes.
Roque said he supports the government subsidy for the agricultural and transportation sectors and ayuda to ease the plight of the poor sectors.
He stressed that the government is implementing the correct measures to jumpstart the economy, specifically in providing financial assistance to sectors hardest hit by a “confluence of unfortunate events.”
“We are still recovering from the pandemic impacts. The same is true with the provinces ravaged by Typhoon Odette,” Roque said. “Most economies including ours are threatened with inflation due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
Roque said the government is cushioning the country from the economic fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war while continuously addressing the long-term adverse effects of the pandemic and climate disasters.
In terms of ayuda, the former presidential spokesman stressed that President Rodrigo Duterte rightfully ordered to raise the monthly financial assistance to the lowest income sector from P200 to P500.
Roque said he agreed with the President’s decision to defy the advice of his economic team and doubled the ayuda’s amount for our poor kababayans.”
“I wish it could be more, but the government has insufficient funds unless we borrow again from financial institutions,” he said.
He added: “We did not create the conflict in Eastern Europe that has caused the soaring crude oil and petroleum prices. So, we pray that it ends soon.”
At the same time, Roque expressed concern that raising the daily minimum wage to P750 or P1,000 might lead to more unemployment. According to the labor department, the National Capital Region’s minimum wage rate is P537.
Roque advised the regional wage board to maintain the status quo to prevent more Filipinos from becoming jobless. The Philippine Statistics Authority said the country has 3.27 million unemployed persons.
The former party-list representative in the House of Representatives said the government must use the 2022 budget to control the threat of inflation and create more jobs for Filipinos.
As part of his legislative agenda in the Senate, Roque would file an urgent bill supplementing the 2022 national budget to help the rehabilitation of Typhoon Odette victims in Central and Southern Philippines.
Roque vowed to push for employment generation, better implementation of the Universal Health Care law, ‘zero hunger’ in six years, right to potable water, ‘three-day court hearing’ rule, and other justice system reforms.
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