AMID AN IMBALANCE in minimum wage rate and plummeting price of basic commodities, a family of five could hardly make both ends meet even if both (husband and wife) are working.
Taking the case of 50-year old Mang Jose of Taytay, Rizal, his meager salary is not even enough to pay for their monthly rent, and bills corresponding their electricity and water consumption. His wife, Aling Azon, who is much younger than him, helps raise money through online selling of “ukay-ukay.”
Mang Jose and wife have three kids — the eldest is a grade two student in a nearby public school, the second child is enrolled in a barangay-based child development center (commonly referred to as barangay daycare center) while the youngest is turning one this August.
DIFFERING WAGE RATES
As of July 2025, the minimum wage in the Philippines varies by region and industry, reflecting the country’s diverse economic conditions.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), the daily minimum wage for non-agricultural workers is ₱695 in Metro Manila. This rate was established by a recent wage order which granted a ₱50 increase benefiting approximately four million workers.
In contrast, other regions have different minimum wage rates. For instance, in the Caraga Region, the minimum wage is ₱415 per day.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) decides on the amount of increase based on the prevailing cost of living and economic conditions across the country’s 16 regions.
For Mang Jose who lives in a town adjacent to the NCR, he only gets to receive ₱450 per day.
‘Minimum wages in the country have long failed to provide for an adequate living wage for laborers … due to the fact that the criteria in determining minimum wages … are patently erroneous, biased, and ultimately unconstitutional.’
LEGISLATED WAGE HIKE
After two years of lobbying efforts, labor groups suffered another setback as the 19th Congress failed to push forward what would have been the first across-the-board legislated wage hike for minimum wage earners since 1989.
According to IBON Foundation, the 19th Congress passing a legislated minimum wage hike between ₱100 and 200 – from the bill just passed by the House of Representatives (HOR) and its counterpart passed by the Senate last year, respectively – are important first steps towards a family living wage (FLW) nationwide.
Minimum wage earners will feel immediate benefits and should be able to look forward to an FLW that actually raises their families’ standard of living to a decent level.
However, the legislated wage hike bill languished as the 19th Congress adjourned sine die on June 11, leading the labor sector’s fate to the 20th Congress.
NO NEED FOR WAGE BOARD
Several labor organizations have previously called for the abolition of regional wage boards which they aptly referred to as a deterring factor in promoting equal protection of workers.
Citing Republic Act 6727 ( Wage Rationalization Act), militant labor leaders hinted at the urgent need to seriously consider ending what they described as “disparate absurdity” depriving fair working conditions to minimum wage workers outside Metro Manila.
Metro Manila workers have the highest minimum wage rate in the country.
Previously, labor groups asked the Supreme Court to stop the National Wage and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and the RTWPB from issuing any more regional wage orders.
LIVING WAGE, PLEASE
To begin with, they said, the minimum wages set by NWPC and RTWPB have not met the living wage estimated by a number of think tanks.
“Minimum wages in the country have long failed to provide for an adequate living wage for laborers. This is due to the fact that the criteria in determining minimum wages, as defined by RA 6727, are patently erroneous, biased, and ultimately unconstitutional,” reads part of the petition.
These criteria include demand for living wages, wage adjustment against the consumer price index, fair return for investors, and the employers’ capacity to pay.
The petitioners argued that the Constitution and international conventions do not say that fair return of capital by the employers is a requisite for paying a living wage.
REFILING A DEAD BILL
A week after 20th Congress commenced its tour, a legislator refiled a measure in the Senate mandating a P100 daily minimum wage increase for all private sector minimum wage earners, regardless of employment status or sector.
The proposed legislation builds on a similar bill he co-authored in the previous Congress.
Citing the need to uplift the welfare of Filipino workers amid persistent economic hardship, Go reminded fellow legislators on the constitutional duty of the State to protect labor and ensure humane and dignified working conditions.
“The 1987 Philippine Constitution declares that the State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized… They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage,” Go said in a statement.
“This constitutional provision clearly mandates the State to ensure that workers are afforded a living wage — one that is not only sufficient for subsistence, but also consistent with human dignity and decency,” he quipped.