Metro Manila Workers Disappointed as Minimum Wage Hike Suspended

Metro Manila workers expressed disappointment after a temporary restraining order (TRO) suspended the implementation of an P85 minimum wage hike in the National Capital Region. The order was sought by two construction firms in Pasig City. "We've been ghosted again," said cashier Joan Walog, who had planned to use the initial P60 increase for her child's baby food. "It’s really disappointing because with prices being so high, we were counting on that extra P60. If they deduct the P60 increase, then our overtime and hourly pay will be reduced as well." Production worker Rosalie Alhambra stated, “I wish they hadn’t announced a wage increase in the first place, so people wouldn't get their hopes up. The increase was already so small, and then they took it back—it feels so painful." Another worker, cook Abbey, felt taken for granted. "I might actually go through with resigning because the wage increase would have meant a lot to us." The Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued the TRO on Thursday, granting the plea of petitioners Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders, Inc. The labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) urged the government to uphold the wage order and called on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to address the issue. KMU chairperson Jerome Adonis compared the temporary retraction to losing a kilo of rice from a family's daily budget. An estimated 1.4 million minimum wage earners are expected to be affected by the TRO. Labor groups, including KMU, are planning protests to demand the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) continue advocating for the wage increase. DOLE asserted that wages earned before the TRO issuance should still be paid. Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino stated, "The workers already have a vested right to those earnings, so they shouldn't have to return them. Especially today, since it's payday, no money should be taken back because when the payroll was prepared and received, there was no order from the National Wages and Productivity Commission suspending it yet." On Friday, hospital workers held a noise barrage in front of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to protest the TRO. Source: GMA News Philippines