Philippines union calls on DOLE to defend ₱85 NCR wage hike

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) has urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and regional wage authorities to defend and enforce the National Capital Region’s Wage Order No. 27, as a new wage hearing takes place amid an ongoing court challenge to the pay increase.

FFW President Atty. Sonny Matula called on Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino, the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-NCR (RTWPB-NCR) to uphold their statutory wage-setting mandate and stand by the order issued by the regional wage board.

“Congress entrusted regional wage-setting to the Wage Boards,” Matula said, arguing that the authority to determine regional minimum wages should remain with the tripartite wage boards rather than shift to a regional trial court.

The union maintains that the petition before the Pasig Regional Trial Court should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. It also questioned whether the RTWPB-NCR’s latest wage hearing can meaningfully proceed while the court challenge to Wage Order No. NCR-27 remains unresolved.

The hearing is being held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Manila.

The FFW also raised questions over the ₱10-billion bond attached to the preliminary injunction against the wage order. Matula argued that if the required bond was not posted and approved, the injunction should not be enforceable.

The union further criticised the exclusion of workers’ representatives from the injunction proceedings, saying labour groups had sought permission to intervene before the preliminary injunction was resolved.

“Workers knocked before their wages were restrained, but the courtroom door remained closed to them,” Matula said, calling on the Office of the Solicitor General to continue challenging the court’s jurisdiction and defend the authority of the RTWPB-NCR.

The dispute centres on Wage Order No. NCR-27, which provides for an ₱85 increase in the minimum wage in Metro Manila in two tranches. 

The first ₱60 increase took effect on July 25, while the remaining ₱25 is scheduled for January 20, 2027. The order brings the minimum daily wage for non-agricultural workers to ₱780, while workers in agriculture and certain small establishments receive a rate of ₱743.

The FFW also highlighted the potential economic impact of the delay. It estimates that 34 Monday-to-Saturday workdays had passed between July 25 and September 2. Based on an illustrative calculation, the union estimates that the first ₱60 tranche represents around ₱2.244 billion in wages for 1.1 million direct beneficiaries.

Using a further illustrative assumption of a ₱30 wage distortion adjustment for another 1.7 million affected workers, the combined estimated wage impact could approach ₱3.978 billion.

Matula said the figures demonstrate the wider consequences of prolonged uncertainty over the wage order, particularly for workers and their families.

The FFW also challenged wage boards to actively defend orders they have issued after consultations and deliberations with workers and employers.

The union said employers have legal avenues to challenge wage orders, but argued that such challenges should not transfer the statutory wage-setting authority of regional wage boards to the courts.

The request comes as DOLE continues to pursue legal remedies to secure the implementation of NCR Wage Order No. 27 following the Pasig RTC’s intervention in the wage increase.