Workers in NCR are getting a P50 wage hike. But is it enough to live on?
Workers in the National Capital Region will receive a P50 pay increase, the Department of Labor and Employment announced.
The NCR Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) issued Wage Order No. 26 granting the wage hike, which will take effect on July 18 and will benefit 1.2 million minimum wage earners.
This brings the minimum wage for Metro Manila workers to P695 from P645 daily in the non-agriculture sector, and P658 from P608 in the agriculture sector, retail and service establishments with 15 or fewer employees, and manufacturing firms with less than 10 regular workers.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) said that under the new rate, non-agricultural workers will have a monthly take-home pay of about P15,247 for a five-day workweek, inclusive of mandatory social welfare benefits.
The last order, approved on June 2024, increased the minimum daily wage in NCR by P35.
Is the P50 hike enough?
Non-profit development organization Ibon Foundation executive director Sonny Africa called the minimum wage increase "tokenistic" as it still leaves workers over P500 short of a family living wage.
According to the group, a family of five in NCR should have a wage of P1,217 per day, or P26,479 per month to live decently.
"Equivalent to just 0.4% of employer expenses and barely 2.5% of their profits, it's based on what employers want to give, not what workers need to survive," he said in a statement. "This is more about [President] Marcos Jr. shoring up his sagging popularity than seriously addressing hunger and hardship."
Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) slammed the wage hike after the 19th Congress adjourned without ratifying the House Bill No. 11376 proposing a P200 daily increase. The Senate, meanwhile, proposed a P100 hike.
"Let's call it what it is: damage control," SENTRO said in a statement. "A legislated wage hike, had PBBM allowed it, even for just P100, would have actually lifted minimum wage earners in the NCR and several other regions above the poverty threshold for a family of five—that is assuming the family has two working members. That was a step toward dignity."
"In contrast, the RTWPB's measly P50 is an insult."
Partido Manggagawa added that the increase "barely makes a dent in the poverty faced by workers."
The labor movement also called for a legislated increase of P200 in the upcoming 20th Congress.
Malacañang said earlier in June that it is looking at the economic implications of the House of Representatives' proposal.
