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/

One day's wage hike just eaten by power rate hike

Photo from GMANews

The power rate hike has already eaten one day of the ₱60 wage hike that is yet to be received by minimum wage earners in NCR.

 

According to Partido Manggagawa (PM), at least ₱74.8 million, from the 1.1 million minimum wage earners in NCR who should receive a ₱60 wage hike this July, will only go to power plant owners because of the ₱0.34/kwh rate hike announced by Meralco.

 

This is just a preview of the next electricity price increases because Meralco's petition for its own distribution, supply, and metering (DSM) charge adjustment worth ₱0.99/kWh is also pending at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) under the first regulatory period of 2027-2031, which the ERC is said to be able to decide this 3rd Quarter.

 

“The wage hike is gradual but the rate power rates hike is consecutive,” angrily stated Judy Miranda, Secretary General of PM.

 

According to Miranda, if combined, the average electricity price increase since March is more than ₱1.00/kWh.

 

According to the PM, 1.1 million minimum wage earners lost ₱74.8 million because the equivalent of ₱0.34/kWh for a typical household's consumption of 200 kWh in a month is ₱68.

 

“This means that one day of minimum wage has already been lost in the new wage hike for minimum wage earners in the NCR. This is life in an Upper Middle-Income Country, power hikes are faster than wage hikes,” Miranda said.

 

PM also fears that these power rate hikes will be followed by another round and will have a domino effect on other products due to the country's vulnerability to price shocks as it is dependent on imported fossil fuels such as oil, coal and LNG which are used in power plants and transportation because the transition to renewable energy is also very slow.

 

Added to this is the failure of EPIRA and privatization as a policy that made the market more powerful than government control over essential services like electricity.

 

“UMIC status should be the result of reform, not just a mathematical calculation of wealth that is largely in the hands of capitalists, such as the owners of power firms,” Miranda concluded.

 

PRESS RELEASE

Partido Manggagawa

11 July 2026

PHP 50/day minimum wage increase is a drop in the bucket

 

Image from ABS-CBN

Five P10 coins may be the biggest alms that the NCR wage board ever gave workers, but it is still barya (small change). The PHP 50/day minimum wage increase, bringing the new minimum wage to PHP 695, is woefully inadequate in addressing the skyrocketing cost of living in Metro Manila. With a daily living wage of over PHP 1,200 for a family of five, this increase barely makes a dent in the poverty faced by workers.

 

Working poor despite wage hike

 

The new minimum wage of PHP 695 translates to a monthly salary of PHP 15,290 (based on 22 working days). However, this is still below the regional poverty threshold of PHP 15,713 as of 2023. Given the rising cost of living, the poverty threshold is likely even higher now, making workers in Metro Manila even poorer.

 

Call to action

 

The labor movement recognizes that the current wage system perpetuates cheap wages. That's why we're fighting for real change through a legislated wage increase of PHP 200 in the upcoming 20th Congress. We urge all workers to unite and join the fight for a legislated wage hike that will genuinely improve our standard of living. Together, we can demand a fair wage that allows us to live with dignity. 

Labor group calls for ₱200 wage hike, urges NCR Wage Board to defer to Congress

Rey Almendras at NCR wage consultation 

 

Metro Manila — In a strongly worded statement delivered at the NCR wage consultation, the labor group Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa (KAPATIRAN) called on the regional wage board to defer action on wage orders this year and instead support a legislated wage hike through Congress. The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board–National Capital Region held a “Labor Sector Wage Consultation” yesterday afternoon at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City.

 

Rey Almendras, KAPATIRAN President, emphasized the worsening economic hardships faced by Filipino workers despite official claims of low inflation and declining unemployment. Citing recent survey data, Almendras highlighted that over a quarter of Filipino families are experiencing hunger, while more than half consider themselves poor—the highest levels seen in decades.

 

“The minimum wage—even with almost yearly increases—remains below the poverty threshold. Workers are starving while government figures paint a rosy picture,” Almendras said. KAPATIRAN pointed to the erosion of real wages, noting that the current ₱645 nominal daily wage in Metro Manila has a real value of only ₱519—₱126 short of its 2018 equivalent. The group argues that, when combining wage recovery with a just share in productivity gains, workers are entitled to no less than a ₱200 daily wage increase.

 

This, Almendras noted, is not just a demand but a constitutional right. “The Constitution mandates a living wage and a just share in the fruits of production. But workers haven’t felt either,” he said. “Despite rising productivity, the real wage hasn’t kept up.”

 

KAPATIRAN also expressed frustration over past wage orders issued by the NCR Wage Board, which fell far short of workers' demands—granting only ₱40 and ₱35 increases in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Kapatiran filed a P100 wage petition in December 2022.  “We’ve lost hope in the regional wage board. They’ve been blind and deaf to workers’ pleas. It’s time for a new path,” Almendras declared.

 

The group is now joining a broader coalition of labor organizations pushing for a national, legislated wage hike in Congress, citing the stronger prospects brought by the recent election of pro-worker legislators. In closing, Almendras issued a direct appeal to the NCR Wage Board: “Please refrain from issuing a wage order this year. Let Congress do its job. With workers’ actions inside and outside Congress, we hope to finally win our demand.” 

PRESS RELEASE

Rey Almendras

President, Kapatiran

Grupo, tinuligsa ang bagong wage orders na nagpapalalim ng “poverty wages”

Photo from Philstar

Tinuligsa ng grupong Partido Manggagawa (PM) ang wage boards ng Rehiyon 2, 3, at 12 sa “pagpapatuloy ng cheap labor policy” dahil ang kanilang mga minimum wage order ay malayo sa mga hinihingi ng mga manggagawa na P150 dagdag sahod upang maibalik ang kanilang nawalang purchasing power.

 “Ang mga bagong minimum wage ay napakababa para sa pantawid ng mga pormal na manggagawa at kanilang pamilya. Ang trabaho ay hanapbuhay, ibig sabihin, ang layunin ng pagtatrabaho ay upang kumita ng sapat para sa isang disenteng buhay. Sa halip, ang sistema ng wage regionalization ay lumilikha ng isang hukbo ng mga nagtatrabahong mahihirap or ‘working poor,’” sabi ni Judy Ann Miranda, secretary-general ng PM.

Dagdag pa niya, “Nagtatrabaho ang mga tao ngunit nananatiling mahirap. Kung ibabatay sa kalkulasyon na 26 na araw na trabaho kada buwan (kahit na sinasabi ng PSA na ang karaniwang araw ng trabaho ay 22 lamang sa halip na 26), ang mga buwanang minimum wage ay hindi umaabot sa antas ng kahirapan. Alalahanin pa nating kontrobersyal ang poverty threshold dahil sa pagiging labis na mababa.”

Anang grupong PM, ang real wage, o kung ano ang mabibili ng mga manggagawa sa kanilang suweldo, ay hindi tumutugma sa produktibidad ng paggawa. Isang pag-aaral ng gobyerno ang nagpakita na ang real wages ay nananatiling stagnant habang ang produktibidad ay tumaas ng 50% mula 2001-2016. Para kay Miranda, “Kayang magbigay ng mas magandang sahod ang mga kumpanya ngunit ang sistema sa pagtatakda ng sahod ay patuloy na nambabarat sa mga manggagawa.”

Binanggit sa Wage Rationalization Act ang apat (mula sa sampu) na pamantayan tungkol sa isang living wage ngunit ang mga wage order tuwinang nakabatay lamang sa inflation—sa pinakamainam na sitwasyon. “Ang mga minimum wage ay naging isang ceiling, hindi isang floor. Nangangahulugan ito na ginagamit ng mga employer ang minimum wage bilang pinakamataas na handa nilang ialok sa mga manggagawa. Oras na para buwagin ang wage boards,” paliwanag ni Miranda. 

	New Daily Wage	Monthly Wage (x22)	Monthly Wage (x26)	PSA Poverty Threshold
Region 2	480	10,560	12,480	13,400
Region 3	550	12,100	14,300	16,046
Region 12	430	9,460	11,180	12,241

October 2, 2024

Minimum wage earners are poor according to PSA “fact reveal”

 

Photo from Rappler

The latest poverty statistics released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) last week show that families with a minimum wage earner as a breadwinner live below the poverty line. “PSA’s ‘fact reveal’ exposes the sad truth that minimum wage earners are working poor as their families survive below the poverty threshold which is unrealistically low. Thus, the urgency of a PhP 150 legislated across-the-board wage hike for all workers,” stated PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

“The minimum wage is highest in Metro Manila, where the wage board has already granted an adjustment last month. Yet the monthly income of a minimum wage earner in NCR is just PhP 14,190 (P645 x 22 working days). This falls below the PhP 15,713 poverty threshold in Metro Manila, according to the PSA,” Magtubo explained.

 

He added that the same working poor scenario exists for minimum wage earners in highly industrialized areas like Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Cebu. “The ‘minimum wage-poverty threshold gap’ is worse for workers in Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Cebu where no salary adjustment has been granted yet by the inutile wage boards. In Calabarzon the monthly minimum wage is PhP 11,440 but the poverty threshold is PhP 15,457. In Central Luzon the wage is PhP 11,000 but the threshold is PhP 16,046. Finally, in Cebu the monthly minimum wage is PhP 10,296 while the poverty threshold is PhP 14,397. The minimum wage-poverty threshold deficit ranges from PhP 4,000 to 5,000 in a month for these industrialized areas where minimum wages are higher than the rest of the country, except Metro Manila,” Magtubo elaborated.

 

He called for a legislated across-the-board wage hike of P150 to recover the lost purchasing power of workers nationwide. PM is calling on Congress to act on the demand for a salary increase.

 

Magtubo added that “It is a scandal that the minimum wage—which is a floor supposed to protect workers and their families—fails to rise above the poverty threshold. And this holds not just for Metro Manila but for all regions. We are a nation of working poor. Sa kabila ng sipag at tyaga ng mga manggagawa, nanatiling mahirap ang kanilang mga pamilya.”

 

“Further, we can question the accuracy of the poverty threshold estimates. Suffice it to say that even Sec. Balisacan found it difficult to defend the P64 food poverty threshold and stated that it needs revision. This admission from officials is good to hear but action from government is what the working poor need,” Magtubo averred.

August 19, 2024

P100 wage hike will be a blessing not catastrophe

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) countered employers’ doomsday scenarios for the economy once a legislated wage hike is passed. “A P100 wage hike will be a blessing not a catastrophe for the economy. For the past two years, minimum wages were raised in all regions, except BARMM for this round, and yet inflation and unemployment went on a decline. The economy benefited and did not suffer from salary increases,” argued Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

The group welcomes the proposed P100 increase in minimum wages nationwide which the Senate will deliberate on third reading on Monday. “We would have wanted it to be higher and across-the-board but still an additional P100 in workers’ pockets will be an immediate relief as the cost of living is around P1,200 a day,” Magtubo stated.

 

PM is calling on the House of Representatives Labor Committee to deliberate on the pending wage bills. “As surveys have repeatedly shown, Filipinos want solutions to high prices and low wages, not amendments to the Constitution. Let’s get to work,” Magtubo demanded.

 

He added that “ECOP head Sergio Ortiz-Luis is singing an old tune. They cried the same dire predictions in 2022 and again in 2023 when organized labor demanded wage hikes. Inflation in 2022 was 5.8% but now it is down to 2.8%. Similarly, unemployment has decreased from 5.4% in 2022 to 3.1% as of December last year.”

 

“In Metro Manila, the minimum wage hike in 2022 and 2023 was P33 and P40, respectively, or P73 in total. Firms did not shutter and MSMEs did not go under. Where is the catastrophe? On the contrary, the economy has gained from wage hikes as the increased purchasing power meant greater demand and bigger production for firms in industry and services,” Magtubo explained.

 

He continued that “As theory and studies show, a moderate salary raise need not lead to inflation or retrenchment as employers can just absorb the higher labor costs by reducing their profit. So, we call on Sergio Ortiz-Luis, share the wealth with the workers who created it in the first place.” 

February 16, 2024

 

Labor Yearender: Workers caught between shrinking amounts of products and shrinking value of wages

 

The cost of living crisis in the country is expressed, on the one hand, in the deflation of real wages and, on the other hand, in the shrinkflation of commodities. Caught between shrinking amounts of products and shrinking value of wages, workers are reeling from hardship during the holidays. No wonder that a survey has shown that one of every four employees prefer to monetize the Christmas parties held by companies for their workforce. It is better to have money in the pocket than to have fun with workmates.

 

In 14 out of 17 regions, minimum wages were increased by PhP 30 to Php 40 in the second half of this year, bringing them to a high of Php 610 in Metro Manila to a low of PhP 368 in Zamboanga Peninsula. However, the equivalent real wages remain depressed. The real wage in Metro Manila is only PhP 504. That is, PhP 610 in 2023 can only buy the equivalent of PhP 504 in 2018, or a gap of PhP 106.

 

The difference between nominal and real wages is a result of inflation over the years: wage hikes have not kept up with the rise in prices and so workers’ purchasing power has been depleted. The nominal versus real wage gap ranges from PhP 63 in Zamboanga Peninsula to PhP 108 in Central Luzon. Thus the necessity for Congress to plug the gap by enacting the bill for a PhP 150 salary increase.

 

The minimum wage adjustments were a belated response from the government to organized labor’s demand for salary increases since last year. In December 2022, the group Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa filed a petition for an additional PhP 100 in minimum wage so that workers can recover their lost purchasing power. Similar petitions were filed in Calabarzon, Cebu and Western Visayas. The wage orders from the different regional wage boards then fell short of the wage recovery demand. Expectedly, real wages stayed deflated despite the latest round of minimum wage hikes.

 

Shrinkflation is just one problem facing workers and the poor. Rice cannot shrink and so its price continues to rise. One kilo of rice today costs from PhP 52 to PhP 68. The onset of El Nino next year is bound to push the price of rice even more. As a pre-emptive move, President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. has already extended the tariff cut on imported rice up to the end of next year to ease rice inflation. Still, this is a band aid solution. His election promise to bring the cost of rice to PhP 20 per kilo is even further from reality.

 

Food in general remains the biggest expenditure for ordinary households. This reveals not just the survival challenges for the working class but the underdevelopment problem faced by Philippine society. Higher expenses for non-food items are a characteristic of more developed countries.

Press Statement

December 27, 2023

Economic managers moonlighting as employers’ spokespersons—labor group

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno for “moonlighting as employers’ spokespersons” with their doomsday predictions about a P150 legislated wage hike is approved by Congress.

 

“Employers Confederation of the Philippines President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. also warned of job losses, price hikes and economic slowdown if wages are raised. Government’s economic managers and employers’ representatives are both painting the same apocalyptic scenarios without any substantiation,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM spokesperson and Marikina City councilor.

 

He added that “Our own economic modelling shows that salary increases will have an insignificant impact on both employment and inflation contrary to Balisacan and Diokno’s claims. Empirical studies for other countries also show similar results.”

 

PM cited that Indonesia, which is similarly situated as the Philippines as a middle-income country with a large informal economy, raised wages by some 50% in 2011 and 2012 without negative effects on prices, employment and GDP. In comparison, a P150 wage hike redounds to just a 25% boost in the minimum wage in Metro Manila.

 

“Raising wages improves living standards and has a secondary effect of increasing worker motivation and morale and thus labor productivity. Further, salary hikes in the formal sector also increases incomes in the informal economy through the so-called lighthouse effect. That is, the rise in formal sector wages signal to the rest of economic actors what a socially acceptable income should be. Finally, Balisacan’s own NEDA admits that GDP growth in the Philippines is primarily driven by household consumption and thus increasing the purchasing power of workers will have a positive effect on the economy,” Magtubo explained.

 

He furthered that “Balisacan and Diokno conveniently forget that government’s own data confirm that from 2001 to 2016, real wages were stagnant but labor productivity grew by 50% while GDP doubled. In other words, the economic pie expanded but the slice given to workers remained the same and employers monopolized all the growth. Why are they silent on this?”

 

PM contended that the P150 legislated wage hike seeks mainly to recover the lost value of workers’ wages and not yet to partake of the increased labor productivity. “Even a P150 will not raise workers’ wages to the level of a living wage, which today stands at around P1,300 per day and increasing due to unabated inflation,” Magtubo insisted.

Press Release

August 17, 2023

P40 wage hike mirrors the state of poverty workers will continue to suffer under Marcos

The P40 increase in the NCR minimum wage ordered by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) mirrors the state of poverty workers endured exactly one year after and will continue to suffer under the Marcos Jr. administration. This wage growth, to say the least, neither can bring the poverty rate down to 9% by the end of his term nor lift the country up the upper middle-income status by next year as prophesied by his economic managers during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

 

Today’s real value of the adjusted P610 in daily minimum wage is only about P516.51 or even lower than the current nominal wage rate of P570. Also, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) computation of P18,000 new monthly minimum wage for NCR workers was incorrect because it simply multiplied P610 by 30 days when in truth, private sector workers work only for 5 to 6 days per week or 22-26 days per month. That translates to a monthly take home pay of less than P13,420 for those in 5-day workweek and P15,860 for those in 6-day workweek after the mandatory deductions for social security.

 

To illustrate further, because the regional wage boards do not order another wage hike within a year after the last wage order, the total for one year from this P40 increase in daily wage at 5-day workweek would only amount to P10,560 (P40 x 22 days x 12 months). Again, this annual take from the P40 wage hike is even lower than the 2021 monthly poverty rate of P12,030 in NCR which by the way is far lower than the SWS ‘self-rated’ poverty of 40% of total families in the region.

 

Accordingly, the P40 wage hike didn’t even meet half of the P100 wage recovery petition of the Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa (Kapatiran) on the sole basis of soaring inflation. In short, this amount of increase can neither be considered as a sensible measure to address poverty and inequality as this, in any way, does not move wages closer to the social objective of providing our workers a living wage as well as fair share from their growing productivity as provided under the 1987 Constitution.

 

Malacañang and Congress, therefore, must share the duty of rectifying the mistake of relegating wage determination to the regional wage boards which places workers’ cost-of-living last among the many criteria they consider in determining wage orders.  This failure of RTWPBs to go beyond poverty wages now brings us to demand Congress to expedite the passage of the P150 across-the-board wage hike now pending before the two Houses. In addition, our policymakers should now consider repealing RA 6727 which created the RTWPBs and replacing it with a new national mechanism that is more responsive to the social objective of raising the workers standard of living.  

 

Another way for the government to ensure improvements in the living standard of workers is to allow them full freedom in exercising their rights to unionize and negotiate better benefits and working conditions with their employers. These rights, the government fully knows, are grossly undermined by existing security policies such as demonization and red-tagging of union activities by the NTF-ELCAC and on the economic side, the normalization of ‘endo’ and other labor contractualization schemes.

 

Absent fundamental reforms on these policy areas, the next five years under Marcos will just add another half-decade of misery for the Filipino workers.

30 June 2023