PM: P45 CALABARZON WAGE HIKE WELCOME BUT FAR FROM LIVING WAGE

WORKERS RACE AGAINST RISING PRICES WHILE MARCOS WATCHES F1

 

Partido Manggagawa (PM) welcomed the new wage order granting workers in CALABARZON an increase of up to P45 a day but warned that the adjustment remains far below what working families need to live decently.

 

“Every peso matters to workers struggling to make ends meet. But P45 is hardly enough when food, electricity, transportation and other basic necessities continue to eat up a family’s income. Workers deserve more than wages that barely keep them above water,” said PM Chairperson Renato Magtubo.

 

Under Wage Order IVA-23, minimum wages in CALABARZON will rise to P550–P645 starting October 26, covering approximately 1.56 million workers.

 

Magtubo pointed out that the highest minimum wage of P645 is still just half the P1,207 daily living wage of the Asia Floor Wage Alliance for a Filipino family of five[1]. This leaves a staggering P562 daily gap between what workers earn and what their families actually need.

 

Even against the government’s modest poverty threshold of P14,634 a month, minimum wages remain inadequate. At 22 working days, P645 translates to only P14,190 monthly, while P550 amounts to just P12,100, before mandatory deductions.

 

“The absurdity is that workers in Cavite, Laguna and Rizal face practically the same high cost of living as those in Metro Manila, yet the highest minimum wage in CALABARZON remains P110 lower than NCR’s P755. Geography has become an excuse for paying workers less,” Magtubo said.

 

PM also warned that the recently approved Meralco distribution rate increase threatens to further squeeze household budgets, potentially wiping out part of the already meager wage adjustment.

 

“What workers gain from a small wage increase can easily disappear into higher electricity bills and food prices. The government cannot keep celebrating wage adjustments while allowing the cost of living to outrun workers’ incomes,” Magtubo added.

 

The labor leader also criticized the sharp contrast between the daily struggles of workers and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s attendance at the Formula 1 race in Singapore, which administration officials defended as an opportunity to attract investments.

 

“While the President watches Formula 1 in Singapore, Filipino workers are running a very different race—the daily race against hunger, unpaid bills and rising prices. The government talks about investment opportunities, but where are the opportunities for workers to earn a decent living?” Magtubo asked.

 

PM noted that wage increases across the country’s 17 regions this year have ranged from P20 to P60, averaging just P39, according to NWPC figures. These adjustments are quickly eroded by inflation and the rising cost of essential services.

 

“For more than three decades, the regional wage-setting system has kept minimum wages at poverty levels in many parts of the country. Instead of closing the gap between wages and living costs, it has institutionalized regional wage inequality. This system has failed workers,” Magtubo stressed.

 

PM reiterated its demand to abolish the regional wage boards established under Republic Act 6727 and replace the fragmented wage-setting system with a national minimum wage anchored on the actual cost of living.

 

“Workers do not need another round of explanations about why wage increases must remain small. They need wages that can feed their families, pay their bills and provide a decent life. A living wage is not a privilege. It is a right,” Magtubo concluded.

 

MEDIA RELEASE

11 October 2026

 

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[1] PM participated in the AFWA survey to calculate the living wage in Asia based on a 3,000 calories daily diet: https://asia.floorwage.org/living-wage/calculating-a-living-wage/

END THE U.S. BLOCKADE OF CUBA! DEFEND THE SOVEREIGNTY AND SELF-DETERMINATION OF ALL NATIONS!

Groups held a solidarity rally yesterday in Quezon City: https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/pfbid0j1nNctstoG9ihXSs8AvnLX5cqKQHyzKuL1zcogWscaxpqnMQNuJait4RoyAvTdFvl

Partido Manggagawa (PM) stands in solidarity with the Cuban people in their continuing struggle against more than six decades of economic blockade imposed by the United States. Cuba is a sovereign and independent nation, having liberated itself from the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship through the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

 

The Cuban Revolution was the sovereign will of the Cuban people. The independent state they established in its aftermath is recognized by the international community. Their right to determine their own political, economic, and social future belongs to them alone. No foreign power has the right to dictate their destiny or undermine their independence.

Yet for more than six decades, the United States has done precisely that.

 

The U.S. economic blockade against Cuba is a blatant assault on national sovereignty and the Cuban people's fundamental right to live freely, develop their economy, and engage in peaceful relations and trade with the rest of the world.

 

No words can adequately capture the enormous economic hardship, political pressure, and human suffering inflicted upon the Cuban people by this prolonged blockade. It is nothing less than economic coercion, political intimidation, and imperialist oppression directed against a nation that has refused to surrender its independence.

 

Cuba has not bowed to these impositions. Despite decades of relentless pressure, the Cuban people have stood firm in defending their sovereignty and right to self-determination. But their resistance does not diminish the enormous costs of the blockade, which has brought nothing beneficial to the Cuban people or humanity. Its continued enforcement runs counter to the principles of sovereign equality, non-intervention, and human rights enshrined in the United Nations Charter and international law.

 

This is why international solidarity is not merely a political expression but an urgent responsibility. Workers and peoples across the world must unite in defending Cuba's independence, demanding an end to the blockade, and upholding the right of every nation to determine its own future free from foreign domination.

 

The struggle of Cuba is inseparable from the broader struggle against imperialist intervention, aggression, and the denial of national self-determination. It is time for the international community to intensify its condemnation of the United States' coercive and aggressive policies, including its actions against Venezuela and Iran, and its continued support for Israel's genocidal assault on the Palestinian people and military aggression against Lebanon.

 

For Partido Manggagawa, solidarity with Cuba is part of the international working-class struggle against imperialism, oppression, and the domination of powerful nations over weaker states. No people should be punished for choosing their own path of development. No nation should be forced into submission through economic strangulation.

 Partido Manggagawa

11 October 2026