TUCP: LRT fare hike another reason to raise minimum wage

The increase in fares for the Light Rail Transit 1 (LRT 1) service is one more reason for President Marcos to certify as urgent the wage hike bill to ease the burden on poorly paid Filipino workers, the country’s largest trade union federation said on Thursday.

In a statement, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), through its party list representative in the House of Representatives, described the LRT 1 fare hike as “unfair, unreasonable and untimely.”

“We have repeatedly called for the deferment of any fare hikes until Congress passes and enacts the legislated wage hike bill before the 19th Congress closes on June 30. It is unjust that train fares are increasing while minimum wage earners continue to receive fixed salaries that can barely buy rice,” TUCP president and House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza said.

“This fare hike will only push working families deeper into poverty until and unless President Ferdinand Marcos certifies the P200 legislated wage hike as urgent to send a strong message to every Filipino worker that relief is coming,” he added.

Went on recess

On Feb. 3, the House passed a bill raising the minimum wage of private sector workers by P200 on second reading, but it went on recess without approving the measure on final reading.

The Senate passed its version of the bill proposing a smaller salary increase of P100 in March 2024.

The two chambers will resume session on June 2.

Earlier, LRT 1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) announced that starting April 2, the maximum fare for a single journey ticket would increase by P10, from P45 to P55.

The TUCP pointed out that the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila increased by a measly P35 last year.

“This means an additional P20 daily expense for workers commuting roundtrip via LRT-1, effectively taking back last year’s meager minimum wage increase, NCR minimum wage earners with only P15 increase,” Mendoza said.

See Also

Conspiracies, espionage, an enemies list: Takeaways from a wild day of confirmation hearings

Should the pending jeepney fare hike, from P13 to P15, be approved as well, the small increase in minimum wages will be wiped out completely, he said.

The TUCP representative was one of the authors of the P200 wage hike bill at the House.

In extreme poverty

“Without an immediate legislated wage hike, minimum wage earners are trapped on a stationary bike—pedaling harder but going nowhere—while the cost of living skyrockets,” Mendoza said.

He cited the latest estimates from the International Labor Organization (ILO) showing that nearly 2 percent of the Philippine workforce was now in extreme poverty, earning below $2.15 or P125 per day in 2024—a dramatic rise from 0.55 percent in 2023.

On the other hand, some 90 percent of workers are nearly poor, earning at least $3.65 or P212 per day—another dramatic rise from 77.1 percent last year, the ILO figures showed.