THE University of the Philippines Law Center Workers and Employees Program (UP Law Center-WEP) said that the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (Pasig-RTC) stopping the implementation of the minimum wage hike in Metro Manila is contrary to law, jurisprudence, and the Constitution.
“Without rule of law, social justice remains elusive for Filipino workers,” it said, noting that courts cannot simultaneously recognize social justice as a constitutional principle while disregarding the statutory institutions and remedies established to make those rights meaningful.
The statement was signed by UP Law Center faculty members and lawyers affiliated with WEP, including Prof. Patricia R.P. Salvador Daway, Assoc. Prof. E. (Leo) Battad, and lawyers Arnold De Vera, Marwil Llasos, Jayvy Gamboa, Nathaniel Diaz, and Jasper Frederick Briones.
It added that the court’s order blocking the wage increase rollout has undermined the statutory system Congress created for setting minimum wages and threatens the constitutional mandate of social justice.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-NCR issued Wage Order 27 on June 23, granting workers in all sectors in the National Capital Region a P60 daily minimum wage increase effective July 25, followed by another P25 increase on Jan. 20, 2027.
The two-stage adjustment would bring the total wage increase to P85, making it one of the most significant recent adjustments to Metro Manila’s minimum wage.
But it was halted after Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-Il Builders Inc. filed a petition for declaratory relief and sought injunctive relief against its implementation.
On July 24, the Pasig RTC issued a status quo ante order preventing the wage order from taking effect. Six days later, on July 30, the court issued a temporary restraining order extending the block on implementation until Aug. 13.
The WEP, however, said the court’s intervention conflicts with an explicit provision of the Labor Code. Article 126, as renumbered, provides that no preliminary or permanent injunction or temporary restraining order may be issued by any court, tribunal, or other entity against proceedings before the National Wages and Productivity Commission or the Regional Boards.
Instead, the Labor Code provides a specific remedy for parties aggrieved by a wage order: an appeal to the National Wages and Productivity Commission within 10 calendar days from publication.
“For us, these provisions are clear,” the WEP said, arguing that the statutory appeal mechanism should govern challenges to wage orders rather than judicial intervention through a TRO.
“The courts cannot arrogate upon themselves a function that is not theirs,” the WEP said, adding that doing so would run counter to the judicial duty to uphold the Constitution and the law.
