MANILA, Philippines — The P85 minimum wage increase for daily minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will proceed despite calls from the private sector to suspend its implementation.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Tuesday, July 21, that Malacañang will not issue a suspension order ahead of the first tranche of the wage increase on July 25.
"Wala pong suspension. Wala pong paghinto po dito. Tuloy-tuloy po ito," Castro said. ("There is no suspension. There is no stopping this. This will proceed.")
Castro also said Malacañang had not received any formal request from private sector groups or organizations to suspend or revoke the wage order.
"Wala pong naipaabot sa atin kung may nag-request na mula sa private sector, pero wala pong utos na ito po ay i-suspend," Castro said. ("Nothing has reached us about any request from the private sector, but there is no order to suspend it.")
Private sector concern
The Foundation for Economic Freedom, a private-sector public advocacy group and think tank, earlier urged the government to suspend the wage hike, citing possible effects on inflation and the cost of living.
"While intended to support workers, an abrupt daily wage increase of this magnitude will trigger severe unintended consequences that disproportionately harm the country's most vulnerable populations," FEF said.
The group warned that higher labor costs could be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
Two-tranche increase
The P85 minimum wage increase will be implemented in two tranches.
The first tranche, amounting to P60, will take effect on July 25. It will raise the daily minimum wage to P755 for non-agriculture workers and P718 for agriculture workers, as well as workers in small retail, service and manufacturing establishments covered by the lower rate.
The remaining P25 increase will take effect on Jan. 20, 2027.
Once fully implemented, the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila will be P780 for non-agriculture workers and P743 for agriculture workers and workers in the covered smaller establishments.