Pasig Court Issues Temporary Restraining Order on Metro Manila Minimum Wage Hike

The Pasig Regional Trial Court has issued a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the P85 increase in the minimum wage in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region. In an eight-page order issued on July 30, Presiding Judge Marie Joyce Manongsong granted the prayer of petitioners Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders, Inc. for a TRO on the implementation of NCR Wage Order No. 27, "pending the resolution of the petition for declaratory relief." The court enjoined the respondents, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region and the National Wages and Productivity Commission, from implementing the wage hike until August 13. "A TRO is issued only if the matter is of such extreme urgency that grave injustice and irreparable injury will arise unless it is issued immediately. In this case, the court finds that the elements were sufficiently established by petitioners," the order read. "At the outset, this court deems it necessary to state that it approached the issue not through a binary perspective, or viewed the parties as groups with absolute dichotomy of interests, but with a recognition that they are actually interdependent," it added. "That said, this court finds that the peculiar circumstances of this case justify the issuance of a temporary restraining order to briefly stall the implementation of the assailed wage order," the order read. The court granted the TRO "conditioned upon the posting of a bond by the petitioners Readycon Trading and Construction Corporation and R-II Builders Inc. of P1 million." "Further, hearing on the prayer for a writ of preliminary injunction is set on August 3, 2026 at 9:00 in the morning. Parties and their counsels are likewise enjoined to file and furnish the adverse party/ies with evidence in support of, or opposition to the injunctive writ before the scheduled hearing," the court said. The court conducted a hearing on the petition on July 28 after Executive Judge Achilles Balauitan issued a status quo ante order on the implementation of the minimum wage hike on July 24, a day before the effectivity of the wage order. Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino said he was saddened by the court's decision but added that the department will respect and abide by the ruling. In a statement, the department said it would defer to the court as regards the basis for its decision. In a statement, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) condemned the petition filed before the Pasig City RTC that sought to suspend the implementation of Wage Order No. 27 issued by the National Capital Region–Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (NCR-RTWPB). The TUCP said the petition filed by two construction firms sought "to deprive Metro Manila workers of the long-overdue P85 daily minimum wage increase, beginning with the P60 first tranche that took effect on July 25, and to force workers to wait even longer for relief that is already grossly inadequate in the face of soaring prices of food, transportation, electricity, housing, and other basic necessities." "This is the height of corporate greed, desperation, and utter indifference to the daily suffering of Filipino workers," the labor group said. —NB, GMA News