We, the workers, also urge lawmakers to take an oath—not just as judges and prosecutors in the impeachment court—but to pass the long-pending legislated wage hike currently stalled in Congress.
Earlier, Senate President Chiz Escudero took his oath as
presiding judge, and today or tomorrow, senators may don their judicial robes
to swear into their roles.
However, the wage hike bill still lacks Senate conferees for
the Bicameral Conference Committee. Some senators have even stated that they
will thoroughly review the proposal they had already approved, which could
stall its passage in the remaining two days.
The impeachment trial that has begun will drag on into the
20th Congress, while the P100-P200 wage hike bill languishes in the bicameral
stage, at risk of never reaching Malacañang to become law.
The wage hike bill also faces intense pressure of a
capitalist veto due to opposition from business groups and Bongbong Marcos’
economic managers.
We believe Congress still has the persuasive power to pass
this bill—even in the last two minutes of the session—if both chambers
unite.
Failure to do so would be a betrayal of duty and a surrender
to the capitalist lobby against workers.
This failure would only reinforce our belief that Sara’s
impeachment alone is insufficient without accompanying reforms, as seen in past
impeachments.
Reform must go beyond Sara’s impeachment. Addressing workers’ demands to reverse policies that keep wages at starvation and poverty levels is a far greater injustice that lawmakers need to rectify.
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