PM TO NWPC: NADAGDAGAN ANG WAGE ORDER, NABAWASAN ANG WAGE—BAGUHIN ANG SISTEMA NG PASAHOD!

As the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) meets today at the Manila Hotel, Partido Manggagawa (PM) challenged the commission and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to confront the glaring failures of the country’s regional wage-setting system.

 

“Wage Orders 27 and 28: nadagdagan ang order, pero nabawasan ang wage. Mula P85, naging P60. Hindi rin malinaw kung tuluyan nang nabura sa kasaysayan ang ‘historic’ na Wage Order ni Tolentino,” said PM Chairperson Renato Magtubo.

 

It is also historic for NCR to get two wage orders. “Dalawang wage orders na sa NCR, habang ang mga manggagawa sa ibang regions ay nganga at naghihintay,” Magtubo added.

 

For PM, this is not simply a question of whether P60 or P85 is enough. The bigger problem is the system itself.

 

The regional wage-setting mechanism, the labor leader pointed out, has produced a patchwork of different minimum wages and different schedules of wage adjustments across the country. Workers face rising prices everywhere, yet their wages depend heavily on where they work and when their regional wage board decides to act.

 

“Hindi regional ang gutom. Hindi regional ang pagtaas ng presyo ng pagkain, kuryente, pamasahe at iba pang pangunahing pangangailangan. Bakit regional at watak-watak ang pagtaas ng sahod?” Magtubo asked.

 

PM said the NWPC should use today’s meeting not simply to manage the confusion created by the issuance of two separate wage orders, but to begin reforming the system itself.

 

More importantly, DOLE should lobby Congress for a legislated wage hike instead of relying solely on another round of fragmented regional wage orders. It should also support pending proposals in Congress to amend the wage-setting law and establish a national minimum wage.

 

“Kung aminado ang gobyerno na kailangang habulin ng sahod ang patuloy na pagtaas ng gastos ng mga manggagawa, dapat suportahan ng DOLE ang legislated wage hike. At kung malinaw nang lumilikha ng hindi makatwirang agwat at pagkaantala ang regional wage system, panahon nang suportahan nito ang national minimum wage,” Magtubo said.

 

PM called for a comprehensive reform of the wage-setting system toward a mechanism that guarantees regular, timely and substantial wage increases; progressively eliminates unjustifiable regional wage gaps; and moves minimum wages toward a genuine living wage.

 

PM also warned against treating successive wage orders as proof that the present system is working.

 

“Kung nadagdagan ang wage order pero lumiit naman ang wage increase, hindi ito resolusyon sa problema. At kung dalawang wage orders na sa NCR habang naghihintay pa rin ang ibang rehiyon, malinaw na may problema talaga ang buong sistema,” Magtubo said.

 

The issue before the NWPC today should therefore go beyond the amount of the next wage increase.

 

The group said a fragmented and unequal regional wage-setting system should not be allowed to continue; thus, the government should support a legislated wage hike and a national minimum wage for Filipino workers. 

Partido Manggagawa

10 September 2026

Partido Manggagawa to Tolentino: Bawiin ang ₱85 sa kamay ni Judge!

The TROs issued against the ₱85 NCR wage increase have become a direct challenge not only to workers but to the labor chief and his entire department. The true test now is whether Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino can reclaim the lost ground, or he will simply allow the process to stall the wage order in favor of few employers. 

 

As Labor Secretary, Tolentino carries far greater responsibility than any trial court judge in protecting workers’ rights. The Secretary is mandated by the Constitution and the Labor Code to promote workers’ welfare and exercise primary jurisdiction over wage policies. A judge merely resolves the case before the court. The Labor Secretary must defend the order and ensure that lawful wage increases are not defeated by legal maneuvers.

 

PM therefore calls on Secretary Tolentino to personally lead DOLE’s legal effort to immediately lift the TRO and vigorously defend the ₱85 wage order before the courts. Passivity will only embolden employers to weaponize TROs against every future wage increase.

 

If wage orders can be suspended so easily, then workers are left with rights only on paper, while the NWPC-DOLE ends up making the P85 wage hike story history rather than “historic”. 

 

Secretary Tolentino must prove that DOLE is not a mere issuer of wage orders but their strongest defender.

 

Workers need a Labor Secretary who will fight for their wages—not simply administer the process.

 

Bawiin ang P85 sa kamay ni Judge at ibigay agad sa manggagawa.

 

Do this and history shall be our judge.

 

 

Partido Manggagawa: Pasig RTC TRO on ₱85 Wage Hike Suffers from Two Fundamental Legal Defects

 

Partido Manggagawa (PM) strongly opposes the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasig City, Branch 152, which halted the implementation of Wage Order No. NCR-27 granting an ₱85 minimum wage increase to workers in Metro Manila.

 

Based on our legal analysis, this TRO suffers from two clear legal defects.

 

First, it violates Article 126 of the Labor Code. The law explicitly provides that no preliminary injunction, permanent injunction, or TRO may be issued by any court, tribunal, or other entity against proceedings before the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) or the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs). Despite this prohibition, the Pasig RTC issued a TRO directly restraining the RTWPB-NCR and the NWPC from implementing the wage order—the very act that the law expressly forbids.

 

Second, and more importantly, the petitioners filed their case in the wrong venue. Under Article 123 of the Labor Code, the exclusive remedy available to any aggrieved party questioning a wage order is to appeal to the NWPC within ten (10) days from the publication of the wage order. If dissatisfied with the NWPC’s decision, the proper recourse is to file a petition with the Court of Appeals—not with a Regional Trial Court. This procedure has been the governing rule since the enactment of Republic Act No. 6727, and the Supreme Court has consistently held that the primary jurisdiction of the NWPC must first be exhausted before the regular courts may intervene.

 

Instead of following this statutory process, Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders Inc. went directly to the Pasig RTC through a petition for declaratory relief—effectively engaging in forum shopping to circumvent the tripartite dispute resolution mechanism specifically established by law for wage order controversies.

 

This reveals the real strategy behind the TRO. The employers did not challenge the wage order through the legally prescribed process before the RTWPB and the NWPC. Instead, they shifted to a petition for declaratory relief to gain access to a regular court and obtain a TRO. The real issue is not the ₱85 wage increase, but the deliberate sidestepping of the proper remedy in favor of an improper venue.

 

Partido Manggagawa calls on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to vigorously assert these two legal arguments during the August 3 hearing: the violation of Article 126 and the failure to follow the exclusive remedy provided under Article 123. The courts must not be allowed to become instruments for delaying a workers’ benefit that has already gone through the full deliberative process of the Regional Wage Board—a process in which these same employers themselves participated as stakeholders.

 

The ₱85 wage increase is not a gift. It is a right earned by workers, supported by evidence, grounded in due process, and guaranteed by law. It must not be held hostage by a TRO that itself runs contrary to the very law it is supposed to uphold.

 

PRESS STATEMENT

August 1, 2026

 

Amidst high inflation, labor group renews call for P100 wage hike

 

Photo by OneNews.PH

In reaction to the 3-year high inflation of 4.9% this April, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) reiterated its call for a P100 wage hike. The Philippine Statistics Authority released the inflation rate which is a rapid monthly increase of 0.9% over the previous inflation data for March.

 

“P100 is wage recovery, not a real increase in salaries. From 2018 to the present, real wages have declined by a significant amount of 8%. The rising inflation rate further erodes real wages. The National Wages and Productivity Commission’s own data shows that as of February 2022, the P537 minimum wage in Metro Manila is worth only P494 due to inflation since 2018,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina councilor.

 

The wage hike was among the demands raised by PM and other worker groups in the nationwide Labor Day activities a few days ago. PM is asking that an emergency session of Congress tackle a legislated wage hike. “The regional wage boards are useless. Instead workers want Congress to pass a law mandating a P100 across-the-board wage increase, even for those receiving salaries above the minimum wage since everyone has been affected by inflation,” asserted Magtubo.

 

He added that “P100 is really not enough to raise minimum wages to the level of the cost of living. Thus, a holistic approach necessitates a cash aid, price discounts and a jobs program in response to the spike in food prices. Families of the unemployed and informal workers should be given a cash assistance of P10,000 a month. In the long-term, support for farmers must be accelerated, food sovereignty must be promoted and land conversion must be stopped. Local programs that connect farmers to consumers and workers’ communities must be encouraged.”

 

The group is also supporting the labor coalition Nagkaisa’s call for an emergency jobs creation program called unemployment support and work assistance guarantee or USWAG. PM and other labor groups coalesced under the Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni signed a covenant the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan that calls for approximating the living wage and abolishing the system provincial wages.

 

Magtubo explained that “Metro Manila workers last got a minimum wage increase on October 30, 2018, more than three years ago. The most recent wage hike was for Region 2 on February 4, 2020, on the eve of the lockdowns. The worst off are workers in Calabarzon, where most factories are now situated, who last got a minimum wage increase on February 28, 2018. None of the regional wage boards have done anything for the past three years since they are an instrument to cheapen wages.” 

 

May 5, 2022

Labor group calls on Congress for a P100 legislated wage hike

 

In reaction to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello’s announcement that he had called on the regional tripartite wages boards to review minimum wages, the labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) demanded that the proposed emergency session of Congress tackle a legislated wage hike.

 

“The regional wage boards are inutile. Natutulog sila sa pansitan sa nakaraang tatlong taon. Instead workers want Congress to pass a law mandating a P100 across-the-board wage increase,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

He explained that “Metro Manila workers last got minimum wage increase in October 30, 2018, more than three years ago. The most recent wage hike was for Region 2 in February 4, 2020, on the eve of the lockdowns. The worst off are workers in Calabarzon, where most factories are now situated, who last got a minimum wage increase in February 28, 2018. None of the regional wage boards have done anything for the pass three years since they are an instrument to cheapen wages.”

 

The group pointed to the government’s National Wages and Productivity Commission’s own data that shows that as of February 2022, the P537 minimum wage in Metro Manila is worth only P494 based on inflation since 2018. “This is of course an underestimation. Thus, we call for a P100 legislated wage hike for all workers, even for those receiving salaries above the minimum wage,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

He added that “P100 is really not enough to raise minimum wages to the level of the cost of living. Thus, a wholistic approach necessitates a cash aid, price discounts and a jobs program in response to the spike in food prices. Families of the unemployed and informal workers should be given a cash assistance of P10,000 a month. In the long-term, support for farmers must be accelerated, food sovereignty must be promoted and land conversion must be stopped. Local programs that connect farmers to consumers and workers’ communities must be encouraged.”

 

The group is also supporting the labor coalition Nagkaisa’s call for an emergency jobs creation program called unemployment support and work assistance guarantee or USWAG. PM and other labor groups coalesced under the Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni signed a covenant the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan that calls for approximating the living wage and abolishing the system provincial wages. 

March 10, 2022

Labor group says cost of living has breached P1,000/day

Press Release

April 28, 2011

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) estimates that the cost of living for a family of six in Metro Manila has breached PhP 1,000 a day as of March this year. PM based its estimate on its own cost of living study last year and the inflation rate over the past year. Thus the group criticized the declaration of Malacanang and the Labor Department that no wage hike is forthcoming on Labor Day.

“There will be no good news for the workers on May 1, just a consuelo de bobo. Non-wage benefits should complement not supplant a wage hike. But even if NCR wage board later grants the PhP 75 petition, it will not be enough to bridge the yawning gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

PM announced that their conservative estimate of the cost of living is PhP 1010. They arrived at the figure using PM’s PhP 984 April 2010 survey of the daily cost of living and the National Statistics Office’s 2.6% estimate of the inflation rate from April 2010 to March 2011 [1010 = 984 + (984 X 2.6%)].

Magtubo also slammed employers for threatening layoffs and closures in the response to the demand for a wage hike. “This is just the usual capitalist black propaganda and blackmail. Employers will not go bankrupt with a wage hike but they will lose some of their profit,” he explained.

Tomorrow, PM together with the Phillipine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) will lead a “Workers Caravan for Regular Jobs and Living Wage” that will go around the economic zones of Cavite. The workers caravan is a buildup to the nationwide May 1 protests. On Labor Day, PM together with PALEA will assemble at 9:00 am at Mehan Garden in Manila then proceed to Mendiola for a labor unity rally at Mendiola and mass to be officiated by Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. PM will also lead Labor Day protests in Cebu City, Davao City, Bacolod City, Iloilo City, General Santos City, Iligan City and Dipolog City.

“The gap between the PhP 404 minimum wage in the NCR and the cost of living is PhP 606 or 150% of the ordinary wage. Even if two members work—which is the buy one, take one policy of the government—then their combined income will not be enough to feed the entire family,” stated Magtubo.

The group is pushing for the establishment of a National Wage Commission. “The National Wage Commission will be different from the wage boards in that its mandate is to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. And despite the huge difference between the minimum wage and the cost of living, the National Wage Commission can bridge the gap by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers,” Magtubo explained.

He added that “The National Wages and Productivity Council's (NWPC) cost of living estimate of PhP 917 in September 2008 has to be updated in the light of this study and in the face of continuing inflation. We wonder if the NWPC stopped releasing cost of living estimates because it unwittingly exposes the cheap labor policy of the government.”

PM’s cost of living study did not provide for savings and social security which in the government’s basket of goods and services constitutes 10% of the cost of living. Furthermore, PM's study did not include items such as leisure and recreation, and the family budget for health excluded medical expenses. Magtubo said that “If we include such items, and we must in a more accurate survey, then the cost of living will even be bigger.”

He also argued that “Since we should not impose the burden of household chores and child rearing to the female parent, then the basket of goods should provide for a house-help. That is not anymore a luxury especially in the light of the insistence of the state that both parents must work instead of having just a single breadwinner.”

Labor party wonders why living wage figures remained at 2008 level

Press Release

April 15, 2011

While prices of basic goods and services keep on rising, the government’s calculation of Family Living Wage (FLW) remained at 2008 level, provoking curiosity from the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

According to the group, the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) website contains all the necessary information on wages, except on FLW estimates which has never been updated since September 2008. The link to the site has been “under construction” since then.

“Was it arbitrary on the part of the government to put an embargo to this very important information?  If it cannot even update its figures how much more in complying with the Constitutional mandate of providing labor the right to a family living wage?,” lamented PM chair Renate Magtubo.

Living wage is defined as the amount of family income needed to provide for the family’s food and non-food expenditures, including a 10% proportion of "other components" to allow for savings.

The NWPC’s September 2008 figures put the FLW estimates in the National Capital Region (NCR) at P917 a day to as high as P1, 322 in the ARMM region. PM’s own estimate put it at P1, 000 in 2009.

Magtubo said the NWPC may have opted to “reconstruct the truth” to hide or mask the ever widening gap between real wage and the living wage.  NWPC calculated the real wage value of the P404 minimum wage in NCR at PhP239.76.  It cannot be compared to the current FLW since new numbers are missing.

“For this evidently clear act of omission labor has the right to call for NWPC’s abolition together with the equally hopeless regional wage boards,” argued Magtubo.

A regular and timely estimate of FLW is important since it shows the movement of a family’s current cost of living relative to its income thus must be principally considered in making wage adjustments. 

In fact first on the list of the 10 criteria for the current minimum wage fixing is the workers’ demand for living wage which includes not only the right to recover the lost value of their wages but also improvement on their living standard.

“The truth is there is clearly a mismatch between the actual needs of workers and their level of income because the present system puts more weight on capitalist’s ‘capacity to pay’ rather than on labor’s ‘capacity to buy’,” explained Magtubo.  

Magtubo said the country’s wage levels remain at “starvation level” since the PhP125 and PhP75 demand, even if granted, can only cover about half of a worker’s actual needs.

Aside from pressing for a wage increase, PM has also been proposing for the replacement of the current wage fixing mechanism by a new system that would institutionalize living wage as the principal criterion for determining the basic minimum wage.  It wants a new National Wage Commission mandated with this new framework take the place of the regional wage boards.