METRO Manila workers will receive the biggest minimum wage increase in the region’s history after the government approved an P85 daily wage hike for private sector employees, Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino announced Tuesday.
Tolentino said the wage adjustment will raise the minimum daily pay of non-agricultural workers from P695 to P780.
Agricultural workers, meanwhile, will see their minimum wage increase from P658 to P743 per day.
Tolentino described the wage order as a historic move, noting that it marks the highest wage increase ever granted to private sector workers in Metro Manila.
The increase will be implemented in two tranches. The first tranche of P60 will take effect on July 19, 2026, while the remaining P25 will be implemented on Jan. 20, 2027.
Tolentino said the wage hike was based on several economic factors, including inflation, rising electricity rates, increasing prices of basic goods, and the need to provide workers with a decent standard of living.
He said the decision followed extensive studies and consultations involving employers, workers, and government representatives under the country’s tripartite wage-setting mechanism.
“Many factors were considered. There were consultations and studies involving the tripartite sectors — employers, employees, and government,” Tolentino added.
The Labor chief said the increase was a collegial decision of the National Wages and Productivity Commission and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) for Metro Manila.
“Many stakeholders did not expect the wage adjustment process to be completed so quickly,” he said.
For other regions, Tolentino said wage consultations remain ongoing, particularly in Regions 3 and 7, with authorities continuing to follow the prescribed process before issuing wage orders.
The wage increase will also cover domestic workers in Metro Manila who currently receive minimum wage rates, as well as employees of small establishments, including those with 15 workers or fewer.
Tolentino said around 1.1 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will directly benefit from the wage order.
In addition, about 1.9 million workers earning above the minimum wage may benefit through wage distortion adjustments, collective bargaining agreements, and company-level wage negotiations triggered by the increase.
‘Historic but infuriating’
Organized labor criticized the P85 minimum wage increase, saying it falls far short of what employees need to cope with rising prices.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor federation, took issue with Tolentino for calling the increase “historic,” saying it was “historic but infuriating” since workers have already lost hundreds of pesos in purchasing power due to inflation.
It said the increase becomes even less meaningful because it will be implemented in two tranches rather than given in full immediately.
The labor federation said workers should not have to wait months to receive the full adjustment amid continuing increases in the prices of food, electricity, transportation, and other essentials.
According to TUCP, the issue is not the size of the increase alone but the government’s decision to portray it as a landmark achievement despite its limited impact on workers’ daily lives.
The group made the statement on the same day that the House Committee on Labor and Employment held its first hearing on proposals seeking a legislated P200 nationwide wage increase.
Lawmakers agreed to continue deliberations after the president’s upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) to finalize a substitute bill for committee approval and eventual plenary debate.
TUCP also questioned Tolentino’s absence from the congressional hearing, suggesting that the labor chief chose instead to defend the regional wage board system.
The labor group argued that the wage board mechanism has failed for decades to lift workers out of poverty and continues to create disparities between regions.
It noted that workers in the Visayas and Mindanao are still waiting for possible wage adjustments, raising concerns about unequal treatment based on location.
TUCP said the Metro Manila increase highlights what it described as the limitations of the current wage-setting system, especially since the highest increase it could produce was only P85 that will still be released in installments.
The federation reiterated its call for Congress to pass a legislated P200 nationwide wage hike, arguing that a uniform increase would provide fairer and more meaningful relief to workers across the country.
Business unhappy, too
Business groups on Tuesday opposed the P85 wage hike for workers in Metro Manila.
“The wage hike is too high,” said Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP).
Ortiz-Luis said the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), who account for 90 percent of businesses, would be hurt by the wage hike.
Faced with higher costs, these companies would lay off workers or close, he said. “That’s the effect,” he added in Filipino.
This view was also echoed by the Management Association of the Philippines.
“While businesses will respect and comply with the new wage order, many MSMEs will face additional cost pressures that could affect hiring, expansion, and pricing decisions,” MAP President Donald Lim told The Manila Times in a text message.
“The focus should now be on helping both workers and businesses by improving the ease of doing business, lowering logistics and energy costs, investing in skills and technology, and creating an environment where wage growth is driven by productivity rather than mandated increases alone,” Lim added.
