EDITORIAL: Wage Justice

THE recent implementation of the first tranche of wage increases in Bicol brings long-overdue relief to over 100,000 minimum wage earners and domestic workers in the region.

The new rates—P415 per day for employees and P6,000 monthly for household service workers—are a welcome improvement in the face of rising prices and persistent economic hardship.

But as labor groups and lawmakers emphasize, this is only a small step in a much larger, more urgent journey toward meaningful wage reform in the Philippines.

For 36 years, Filipino workers have waited for a legislated wage hike. They have waited through administrations, crises, and economic upswings that too often left them behind.

Now, in the shadow of rising transport fares and the highest hunger rate since the pandemic, the National Wage Coalition is right to demand immediate and decisive action from the President.

Senator Bong Go, who co-authored the Senate-approved bill seeking a P100 daily wage hike, has renewed his appeal for the executive branch to certify the measure as urgent.

The House, meanwhile, is sitting on a more generous P200 proposal. Reconciliation is possible, but only if political will is strong and aligned with the needs of the people.

President Marcos Jr. has not yet met with labor leaders in his three years in office—a telling silence amid growing calls for reform.

Certifying the wage hike bill as urgent would not only break that silence but signal a genuine commitment to uplift the Filipino workforce.

Opponents of the hike cite the potential burden on small businesses, but safeguards already exist under the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Law and the Wage Rationalization Act.

What’s needed now is balance: between protecting enterprise and honoring labor, between economic growth and human dignity.

The Senate has done its part. The workers have waited long enough. It’s time for the House to act, and for the President to lead.

The numbers—2.16 million unemployed and nearly 30% of Filipino families experiencing hunger—do not lie. Our workers need more than promises; they need policy. They need pay that meets the cost of living, not scraps that trail behind inflation.

History is waiting to be made with the first legislated wage hike since 1989. Let it not wait any longer.