Partido Manggagawa (PM) Chairperson Renato “Ka Rene”
Magtubo today condemned the Pasig Regional Trial Court’s injunction against NCR
Wage Order No. 27, calling it an illegal intrusion into a process that belongs
solely to the wage boards.
“Absent sa hearing ng NCR Wage Board, tapos kay Judge
Manongsong nagpakanlong?” complained Magtubo.
Magtubo, former PM partylist representative and now a
Marikina City Councilor, also slammed petitioner-employers — Readycon Trading
and Construction Corp and R-II Builders - for skipping RTWPB consultations and
public hearings, then running to court.
“They skipped the venue the law required them to
attend. They bypassed the NWPC, their proper forum. Now they claim due process
and forum-shop in the regular courts. You cannot refuse to speak, then cry you
were not heard,” he said.
Citing Articles 123 and 126 of the Labor Code, Magtubo
said the law bars regular courts from stopping wage order proceedings.
Exclusive jurisdiction lies with the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity
Board and the National Wages and Productivity Commission.
“The law is clear. The Pasig RTC injunction is a plain
jurisdictional defect, not a legal remedy,” he said.
Magtubo argued further that Wage Order No. 27 gives
workers only an ₱85 increase — ₱60 in July 25 and ₱20 in January 2027. Even
with this, wages remain far below the ₱1,300 a day a family of five needs in
NCR. And yet even this meager relief is
being strangled in the regular courts,” he said.
He warned that the delay directly hurts workers who
followed the legal process. “Every month this injunction drags on is a month of
stolen wages. If employers can use regular courts to indefinitely suspend a
wage board decision, where do workers go to claim a right the law already
granted?”
Magtubo also urged Congress to amend Articles 123 and
126 to penalize courts that entertain such injunctions and to fast-track their
dismissal.
“Beyond patching the law, this proves the regional
wage board system is too slow and too vulnerable. It is time Congress
legislates a national minimum wage indexed to the cost of living — insulated
from legal harassment and court interference,” concluded Magtubo.
PRESS RELEASE
August 14, 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment