Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 20) — Senate employees will receive an inflation assistance in August, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said on Monday.
“One time po ‘yun ibibigay this August so para makatulong po tayo sa mga empleyado ng Senado sa pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin. Binibigyan natin sila ng priority para makatulong sa kanila dahil hirap na hirap ang ating mga kababayan,” Zubiri said.
[Translation: That is a one-time benefit to be given in August to help Senate employees with the rising costs of goods. We are giving them priority because our people really need help.]
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Zubiri said all 3,000 Senate employees would get the benefit.
Employees are also set to receive an increase in medical assistance from ₱30,000 to ₱50,000, he said.
“Ginamit po namin ang savings, kapag nagkaka-savings kami sa Senado dinaragdagan namin ang incentives para sa mga empleyado namin,” he said.
[Translation: We used savings, when the Senate has savings we add to the incentives of our employees.]
The Senate president appealed to his colleagues to be more frugal, so employees could benefit from these savings.
“Ang pakiusap ko nga kanina na sana we spend less on paper, we spend less on overtime para maibalik din sa mga empleyado itong savings in terms of incentives and bonuses para nang ganun ay napakaganda ng empleyado ng ating mga empleyado at nakikita nyo naman ganadong-ganado sila,” said Zubiri.
[Translation: I asked that we spend less on paper, less on overtime so we can give back to employees in terms of incentives and bonuses who really do good work.]
Zubiri said he was in favor of raising the minimum wage as it did not automatically translate to a living wage for workers.
“If you ask me everybody should share, including the private sector so okay sa akin na itaas ang minimum wage ng ating mga kababayan at dapat itaas agad dahil medyo ang inflation ay tumataas na rin,” he said.
[Translation: If you ask me everybody should share, including the private sector, so it’s okay with me to raise the minimum wage, and it should be done quickly because inflation is also rising.]
Recently, Sen. Raffy Tulfo filed a resolution calling for a review of the policy for increasing minimum wage, saying the wage increase last year was not enough for workers.
