Palace: Marcos still open to wage talks
President Marcos is open to meeting with labor groups to discuss the need for minimum wage increases for workers even as he has earlier stated his position that it is up to regional wage boards to decide on specific wage hikes.
In a press briefing on Friday, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Malacañang press officer Claire Castro said Mr. Marcos will never close his doors to workers especially when it comes to improving their welfare.
“The President is always open to any discussion for the good of workers and he will never close his doors. He just needs to be informed on how or when so that they can have a good talk,” Castro said.
She made the remarks amid labor groups’ renewed calls on Labor Day for Mr. Marcos to certify Congress’ bills proposing a P100 or P200 daily minimum wage increase.
In a speech in Pasay City on Thursday, the President reiterated his stance that the government needs to carefully study the implications of wage hike proposals and that this is best left to regional tripartite wage and productivity boards.
A legislated wage hike has not been a priority directive of the Marcos administration. Last year, he urged regional wage boards to review the minimum wage rates in their areas and reiterated in January that proposed legislated across-the-board wage hike should undergo further study.
Overall impact
On Friday, Castro reiterated that all stakeholders should be first informed and consulted about the implications of a legislated wage hike on businesses, the economy and other sectors.
“This is according to the President himself. All stakeholders should be informed about the positive and negative implications. So we have to talk to all stakeholders if employers can handle it and what the workers rightly deserve,” Castro said.
She added that the President will do everything in his power to raise workers’ wages.
“It may not be as high as what our countrymen are asking, but at least the President is doing everything he can to give what the people and our workers need,” Castro said.
She noted that regional wage boards implemented wage increases in the past year, which led to higher salaries for workers in 2025.
On Labor Day, said the country’s vibrant economic performance has lowered the unemployment rate to 4.3 percent in 2024, the lowest level recorded in the past 20 years.
In his speech at a Labor Day celebration in Pasay City, Mr. Marcos said: “Because of the economy, we attained the past year the lowest unemployment rate in 20 years—4.3 percent.”
Jobs data
The President said the drop in the country’s unemployment rate was driven by the government’s aggressive efforts to attract more investors to the Philippines.
From 2022 to 2024, the Philippines recorded around $27 billion in investments, while Investment Promotion Agencies reported over P4.35 trillion in total investments during the same period, the President said.
These efforts will create over 350,000 jobs nationwide, the President added.
He also emphasized the government’s commitment to expanding employment opportunities through nationwide job fairs.
In line with Labor Day, the government and private sector have held job fairs in 69 locations nationwide since April 23, with activities running until May 2.
The Chief Executive said that from July 2022 to February 2025, the government conducted more than 4,000 job fairs, with the participation of one million job seekers. Almost 170,000 were hired on the spot in these job fairs.
