P50 wage hike approved for workers in Metro Manila
The regional wage board has approved a P50 wage hike for private sector workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Department of Labor and Employment said on Monday.
Labor groups, however, said the increase in wages was just loose change while a progressive teachers’ group called it a “grossly inadequate response” to the rising cost of living in the country.
The increase will bring the daily minimum wage in NCR to P695 from P645 for the nonagriculture sector; and to P658 from P608 for the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments employing 15 or less workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers.
The wage hike will take effect on July 18, a day after the anniversary of the previous minimum wage increase in Metro Manila of P35, which took effect on July 17, 2024.
‘Highest’ in 3 years
Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the increase was unanimously approved by the NCR Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) through Wage Order No. 26.
The P50 increase was the highest ever granted by the NCR RTWPB since 2022 when President Marcos assumed office.
Workers in Metro Manila have received a total of P125 in wage hikes over the past three years: P40 in 2023, P35 in 2024 and P50 in 2025.
The P50 increase, however, was lower than the P100 and P200 legislated wage increase proposed by the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, during the previous 19th Congress.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission said the latest wage hike was equivalent to an increase of P1,100 per month for a five-day workweek, and P1,300 for a six-day workweek. The commission added that it would directly benefit around 1.2 million daily wage earners in Metro Manila.
Under the new rate, non-agriculture workers will have a monthly take-home pay of P15,247 to P18,216 for a five-day and six-day workweek, respectively, inclusive of mandatory social welfare benefits.
In addition, about 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above minimum wage may indirectly benefit from wage adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortions.
Insult to workers
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Private Schools criticized “the so-called ‘highest ever’ wage increase” and said it was nothing but an admission that workers’ pay has been left behind by the relentless surge in the cost of living.
“This meager adjustment is an insult to our dignity as workers and does nothing to ease the daily hardship of teachers and education workers, who are forced to stretch their already meager wages amid skyrocketing prices of basic goods, transportation, utilities and other necessities,” said ACT Private Schools secretary general Jonathan Geronimo.
The Federation of Free Workers and affiliates of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, meanwhile, welcomed the P50 wage increase but said it was not enough to stop the call for a national pay hike.
They urged the President to instead certify as urgent the proposed P200 legislated wage increase.
Nagkaisa noted the P50 increase amounts to only 7.75 percent of the current P645 daily wage in NCR, and far from the P200 workers initially asked for.
Members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said the wage hike was “a continuation of the Marcos regime’s record of giving barya-barya in the last three years.”
Protesters from different organizations in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao marched in Baguio City on Monday at the conclusion of the four-day KMU national congress.
They warned the Marcos administration of continuing protests, with a huge workers’ march during the State of the Nation Address on July 28. —WITH A REPORT FROM GILLIAN VILLANUEVA
