Workers Protest P60 Wage Increase Ahead of NWPC Meeting

MANILA, Philippines — Protesters from the National Wage Coalition and other labor groups have demanded to be included in a National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) meeting on the P60 wage increase under Wage Order (WO) No. 28, so that workers can voice concerns over the issue. Kamanggagawa Partylist Rep. Elijah “Eli” San Fernando said during the protest in front of the Manila Hotel on Friday, Sept. 10 that workers should have a voice in discussions on wage increases. “Tungkol ’to sa dagdag sahod, so dapat kasama ang manggagawa,” Rep. Eli said. (This is about the wage increase, so the workers should be included.) Representatives from various labor groups planned to enter the closed-door meeting to confront Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officials and formally submit the National Wage Coalition’s position paper, which called for the full implementation of WO No. 27 and the immediate revocation of WO No. 28. San Fernando said the presence of labor representatives was integral to the meeting, particularly because it concerned workers’ wages and should be conducted with full transparency. “We are inviting ourselves, we are representing ourselves because what they are talking about is about wages of workers,” he asserts. The NWPC introduced the new wage order following the delay in the implementation of WO 27, which was suspended after contractors Readycon Training & Construction Corp. and R-II Builders Corp. filed a petition before a Pasig court. Under Wage Order No. 27, workers in Metro Manila are set to receive an additional P85 in minimum wage through two tranches: P60 starting July 25 and another P25 starting January 2027. However, with WO 27 still suspended by the Pasig court, the NWPC introduced Wage Order No. 28, which provides for a P60 wage increase. San Fernando described Wage Order No. 28 as a “historic wage decrease,” arguing that the new order effectively reduces the previously approved P85 increase under WO 27 to P60. “Kauna-unahan, sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, nagkaroon ng rollback sa dagdag sahod ng mga manggagawa, from 85 to 60 pesos.” (First time in the history of the Philippines, there has been a rollback in the wage increase for workers, from P85 to P60.) He added that the introduction of the new wage order has created more confusion and raised more questions instead of providing answers for workers. Atty. Luke Espiritu also stressed that because the petitioners did not post the bond required as a condition for the preliminary injunction, there should be no further delay in the implementation of WO 27. “… Conditioned yung preliminary injunction, yun yung terms nung injunctive writ na framed ng Pasig … na it is conditioned upon the posting of a bond. Hindi ginawa yung condition, hindi nagpost ng bond, ergo walang preliminary injunction.” (The preliminary injunction was conditional. Those were the terms of the injunctive writ framed by Pasig … that it is conditioned upon the posting of a bond. The condition was not met, there was no bond, ergo no preliminary injunction.) The NWC also urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to release the almost P3,000 in backpay it said was owed to the workers, based on the P60 daily wage increase that was supposed to take effect on July 25 under Wage Order No. 27. The labor groups’ representatives stayed at the venue until around 4 p.m. to submit their position paper and assert their presence in the proceedings. The NWPC meeting, however, did not push through despite being scheduled for 1 p.m. /mr