On July 9, National Capital Region’s (NCR) Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) announced that the first tranche of its Wage Order No. 27 would take effect on July 25. It grants a PHP 60 daily wage increase, followed by an additional P25 on January 20 next year, raising the minimum daily wage for non-agricultural workers in Metro Manila to P780.
The cumulative P85 increase is RTWPB’s largest single wage adjustment since its creation in 1989. While welcomed by most workers, however, the amount to them still falls far short of a living wage.
But even a mandated increase, it seems, is difficult for workers to receive. Before the wage hike could even fully take effect, its implementation was put on hold on the eve of the day most workers expect their monthly salaries.
Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 152 issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the latest wage order last July 30, upon petition by two construction companies with at least hundreds of employees and billions of pesos in cumulative government infrastructure contracts.
Readycon Trading and Construction Corp., and R-II Builders, Inc. claimed the wage order would cause “grave injustice and irreparable injury” to their lucrative business, seeking relief from the Court against the alleged adverse effects of the wage order on their rights as businesses. The Court agreed, temporarily halting the wage increase until August 13, 2026.
The Pasig RTC also issued a status quo ante order a day before the wage hike was set to take effect, directing wage rates prior to the scheduled hike be maintained.
Labor secretary Francis Tolentino expressed “sadness” at the decision, pointing out that the wage hike order had undergone due deliberation and process by the Board process. He argued that workers who were already enjoying the increase prior to the Court order should not be made to reimburse the accrued amounts.
Various labor groups were unanimous in condemning the petitions and the Court decision, saying the latter has illegally arrogated unto itself a process that the Labor Code reserves exclusively for wage-setting bodies.
Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairperson Jerome Adonis slammed the orders do not make sense, describing it as an intervention against a hard-won wage adjustment affecting nearly three million workers in the region. He challenged DOLE’s Tolentino to immediately challenge the free order, pointing out that the petitioners should have appealed to National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), as provided for under Article 126 of the Labor Code.
Adonis added the law prohibits trial courts from issuing temporary restraining orders or injunctions against the NWPC and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards.
Labor groups Federation of Free Workers and SENTRO meanwhile has since filed urgent motions before the Pasig RTC, pushing for the immediate lifting of the TRO. The Nagkaisa workers’ coalition also held a protest rally before DOLE’s main office in Intramuros.
Other labor groups likewise challenged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify a legislated wage hike bill to prove his commitment to workers’ welfare.
No president since Corazon Aquino has approved a legislated wage hike, however. Succeeding presidents has only allowed regional wage boards to determine minimum wages in different regions. Minimum daily wage in the NCR stands at P755 while it is P436 in Muslim Mindanao.
The country’s labor laws also allow for exceptions in payment of minimum wages. Small businesses with 10 employees or less may apply for exceptions and may give their workers lower wages than the statutory salaries.
Economic think-tank IBON Foundation said the national average daily living wage must be P1,312 per day, or P28,426 per month. #
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