Metro Manila Minimum Wage Hike to Proceed

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday said the P85 daily minimum wage increase for private-sector workers in Metro Manila will proceed as scheduled, adding that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has not ordered its suspension. “There is no suspension,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told reporters in Filipino. “The implementation will continue.” She added that the Office of the President had not received any formal appeal from the private sector seeking to halt the wage hike. The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board approved the increase for the National Capital Region (NCR) in two tranches: P60 effective July 25 and the remaining P25 on Jan. 20, 2027. The first tranche was moved from July 19 because the wage order took effect 15 days after its July 9 publication. The Department of Labor and Employment said the change was a legal technicality, not a delay. Business groups have warned of higher labor costs, while labor groups said the increase remains inadequate. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking