TUCP to push P200 legislated wage hike
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) renewed its call for a P200 legislated wage hike, after a Pasig City court suspended indefinitely the P85 wage increase that was supposed to take effect in the National Capital Region (NCR) on July 25.
Branch 152 of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court on Thursday issued a writ of preliminary injunction that further suspended NCR Wage Order No. 27, until a determination of the merits of the July 23 petition filed by construction companies Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. of Manggahan, Pasig City, and R-II Builders of Diliman, Quezon City.
But Article 126 of the Wage Rationalization Act (Republic Act No. 6727)—which incorporates key provisions of the Labor Code (Presidential Decree No. 442)—states “No preliminary or permanent injunction or temporary restraining order may be issued by any court, tribunal or other entity against any proceedings before the [National Wages and Productivity] Commission or the Regional Boards.”
The Pasig court headed by Presiding Judge Marie Joyce Manongsong had also acknowledged that law, but nevertheless issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) after Readycon and R-II Builders claimed the wage increase was “unprecedented.”
Minimum wage earners in the NCR were set to receive on July 25 only P60, the first tranche of the P85 wage increase, of which the second tranche of P25 would be implemented yet on Jan. 20, 2027.
‘Probe TRO’
TUCP urged President Marcos to certify as urgent its House Bill No. 88 on the P200 legislated wage and Congress to immediately pass the measure.
The measure “is the only remaining path to a meaningful wage hike now that the existing regional wage-setting system is facing litigation capable of suspending a wage order after it has gone through the statutory process,” the labor group said.
TUCP also said the Pasig court’s actions leave workers with no choice but to seek remedies up to the Supreme Court, where Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña and other labor groups submitted a letter on Aug. 11 asking the high court to step into this matter.
Cendaña had also asked the Supreme Court to “probe Judge Marie Joyce Manongsong’s TRO.”
Malacañang said last week it has asked the Office of the Solicitor-General to prepare to defend the wage order.
The Department of Labor and Employment said on Friday it “will use every lawful remedy available to defend the wage increase and fight for workers who urgently need it.”
“The ruling of Pasig RTC Branch 152 does not merely suspend a wage increase—it takes food off the table of more than a million Metro Manila workers and their families,” Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino said in a statement.
