The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) welcomes the House Committee on Labor and Employment’s consolidation and passage of bills for a P200 across-the-board minimum wage hike for private sector workers. This is a small step in the right direction.

We are glad that the House version of the bill mandates a wage hike higher than the P100 increased stated in Senate Bill 2534, which was passed on the third and final reading on February 19, 2024. We hope that this difference will be resolved in favor of an even higher wage hike.

We see this proposed increase in the minimum wage as a step closer to upholding Filipino workers’ right to a living wage, which is enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The rising prices of basic goods and services have through the decades drastically eroded the value of the minimum wage. The government’s claims of economic growth must be reflected in improvement in workers’ wages.

According to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, the family living wage (FLW) in the country currently stands at P1,224 (for a family of 5 members). The P645 minimum wage in Metro Manila, the highest in the country, is merely 53% of the FLW, while the average minimum wage in the country, P465, is a mere 38% of the FLW.

While we recognize the bill’s advance inside the House of Representatives, we also see the legitimate demands of those protesting outside its gates. The country’s legislators should give a hearing to national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) which is calling for a P1,200 national minimum wage.

We certainly hope that this bill’s advance is not just for show. Cynics say that it is a ploy of the country’s legislators to get more attention and votes for the upcoming 2025 elections. Still others say that it aims to distract people’s attention from Congress’ refusal to carry out impeachment proceedings over accusations of corruption against Vice President Sara Duterte. 

We are calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr not only to prove the cynics wrong but more importantly to uphold Filipino workers’ right to a living wage. The last legislated wage increase in the country was in 1989, and Marcos Jr should show some courage in standing up to big foreign and local employers and his economic managers on this issue.

We take this opportunity to call on Marcos Jr to resume the government’s computation of an FLW. No less than the country’s Constitution mandates the Filipino workers’ right to a living wage, but the government has discontinued computing the FLW years ago, leaving the task to Ibon Foundation. The government should take workers’ rights enshrined in the country’s laws seriously.