The issue of minimum wage in the Philippines should be more than a question of how much a worker should receive every day. In a country like ours, it should be closely connected or discussed with issues like poverty, inflation, cost of living and social justice. And the constitutional promise of a living wage.
Recently, the issue of the minimum wage has become very significant because this year, there was a mandated increase in the minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) of P85 a day. Unfortunately, a case was filed challenging this increase by two construction companies and the court issued a temporary restraining order to delay the implementation of this minimum wage adjustment.
As a background, before the proposed wage increase, the minimum wage for non-agricultural workers in the NCR was P695 per day. Workers in agriculture, plantation and non-plantation establishments, service and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers and manufacturing establishments regularly employing fewer than 10 workers had a minimum wage of P658 per day. This was the result of a wage increase in July 2025.
The new wage order of 2026 provides an additional P85 daily increase. The first tranche of P60 was scheduled to raise the non-agricultural minimum wage from P695 to P755. In the lower category, the minimum wage was raised from P658 to P718 per day. A second tranche of P25 daily increase is scheduled for implementation on Jan. 20, 2027. This will bring the daily wage rates to P780 for non-agricultural workers and P743 for the other lower categories. This order was issued on June 23, 2026, published on July 9 and initially took effect on July 25.
However, this wage order was challenged in court. Two construction companies, Readycon Trading and Construction Corporation and R-11 Builders Incorporated, filed a petition on July 23, 2026 asking the Pasig Regional Trial Court to stop the implementation of the wage increase. The Pasig Court issued a 20-day temporary restraining order subject to the posting of a P1-million bond. The TRO prevented the implementation of the order which was supposed to expire Aug. 13. On Aug. 13, the TRO expired but the Pasig Court issued a preliminary injunction continuing the suspension of the wage increase. As of this writing, the wage increase remains suspended.
It should be noted that the proposed wage increase was preceded by petitions from different labor organizations which submitted their own proposed increases. For example, one labor group, Kapatiran ng Mga Unyon at Samahang Mangagawa, proposed a P200 daily wage increase. Other labor organizations proposed wage increase amounts ranging from P505 to P842. The BPO Industry Employees Network or BIEN separately filed a petition asking for a P1,200 daily minimum wage for NCR workers. The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) has consistently argued for a national family living wage of P1,200 a day, which it deemed necessary for a family of five to meet basic needs.
This living wage approach has been used by other NGOs like the IBON Foundation. This estimate used even by civil society organizations used a simple method for computing a living wage. A simplified family living wage formula can be expressed as: Living Wage = Food Costs+Housing+Utilities+Transportation+Education+ Health Care+Clothing+Other Basic Needs + Social Protection/Savings.
The purpose of a family living wage is not only to keep one individual alive. It attempts to determine what a worker needs to support a household with basic dignity. This is consistent with the Philippine Constitution which states that workers are entitled to a “living wage.” This implies that the Constitution recognizes a family’s right to a living wage or income.
While the court has issued a preliminary injunction on the wage increase, labor organizations and other civil society organizations have presented their own legal arguments against the TRO and preliminary injunction.
Labor organizations have argued that the companies that filed the case should have used the legal remedies within the wage setting system rather than ask a regional trial court to stop the wage order.
The Federation of Free Workers and similar labor coalitions have questioned whether a regional trial court can restrain a wage order when the Labor Code provides an appeal mechanism to the National Wages and Productivity Commission. There are now two issues that have to be decided. The first issue is whether the wage increase of P85 should be implemented. The second issue is how wage disputes can be resolved.
The Philippine minimum wage debate is ultimately about what society considers as a fair distribution of economic wealth. On one side, the question is: can employers afford the minimum wage increase? On the other side, the question is: can workers afford to live on the minimum wage?
If society does not consider the living wage but listens only to what employers believe they can afford, workers and their families will remain perpetually trapped in poverty. The challenge for the Philippine wage policy is to find a level that will sustain productive and employment generating enterprises while at the same time provide a wage level that can provide the worker and his family with a minimal life of human dignity.
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Email: elfrencruz@gmail.com