After the 2025 Midterm Elections, lawmakers at the start of the 20th Congress sought to revive the Wage Hike for Minimum Wage Workers Act, which was pushed in the 19th Congress to no avail.
Trade Union Congress Party Rep. Raymond Mendoza pushed for a P200 increase, while Sen. Erwin Tulfo filed a bill for a P100 increase. Yet, could these initiatives actually come into fruition, if at all?
The Philippines has not had a national minimum wage since June 1989, when Republic Act (RA) No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 declared that wages would be set on a regional basis by regional wage boards.
Although the law also legislated a P25 wage hike for the transition, IBON Foundation claims these regional wages have not kept up with rising prices of goods and services, and that the real value of the minimum wage has fallen 28 percent on average across all regions.
Legislative limbo?
To help address this, there have been multiple attempts in the Congress to increase the minimum wage in the past 37 years. One which went close to realization was House Bill (HB) No. 11376 or the proposed Wage Hike For Minimum Wage Workers Act, which pushed for a P200 increase in the per-day salaries of minimum wage earners. However, despite being passed by the House of Representatives, it was effectively killed when the 19th Congress ended without approving a final version of the bill.
The failure of HB 11376 is only one among several failed attempts. The 17th Congress also sought a P750 daily minimum wage but the measure also ultimately stalled, while similar bills that were filed in the 18th Congress went nowhere, placing the issue in legislative limbo.
The ongoing struggle for fair wages
Akbayan Party Rep. Dadah Ismula was among the lawmakers who filed for the P200 wage hike. “Ang dagdag na 200-pisong sweldo… sa ating mga minimum wagers ay makakatulong sa kanila sa kahirapan… ito’y naka-pending pa rin sa Committee on Labor… [at] maraming aspeto pa ‘yung tinitingnan bago ito isulong nila,” she shares in an interview with The LaSallian.
(The additional P200 salary increase for our minimum wage earners would help ease their poverty… this is still pending in the Committee on Labor… [and] they are still looking into several aspects before they move it forward.)
Despite the bill’s impasse, she remains hopeful that it will soon be implemented given that lawmakers are regularly coordinating with the House of Representatives. But for regular workers, Ismula acknowledges that the consequences will become increasingly difficult to ignore as they are the ones who suffer most from inflation.
“Very challenging talaga sa ating mga minimum wagers… nakikita natin na patuloy [nilang] mararanasan ‘yung epekto… kung hindi maitaas ang kanilang P200 minimum wage salary increase… Ito yung nararapat at [ang] magiging solusyon sa pagtaas ng mga bilihin.”
(It is very challenging for our minimum wage earners… we can see that they will experience the effects of rising prices if the P200 minimum wage increase is not implemented… this is what is appropriate and what would serve as a solution to the rising cost of goods.”)
“Can the Philippines take the toll?”
Despite the benefits the bill provides, Marites Tiongco, Carlos L. Tiu School of Economics (CLTSOE) faculty and DLSU Business and Economics Review Editor in Chief, raised concerns on the feasibility of legislating a national minimum wage immediately.
In 2025, Tiongco co-published an article with CLTSOE Lecturer Justin Raymond Eloriaga and CLTSOE Scientist-in-Residence Caesar Cororaton entitled “Nationalizing the minimum wage: Can the Philippines take the toll?” in the Philippine Review of Economics. They warned against a large and abrupt uniform national wage in a “highly heterogeneous” economy like the Philippines, where economic productivity varies per region.
“The simulations show potentially large declines in [Gross Domestic Product], regional output, and formal employment under an abrupt national wage hike,” Tiongco explains to The LaSallian. “… The difficulty is that the need for higher wages is real, but so are the risks of a poorly calibrated national increase.”
Tiongco disclosed that because economic growth is not distributed evenly across the regions, a uniform national minimum wage, especially at a high level such as P750, can create major adjustment pressures because of regional differences in productivity, labor demand, and cost structures. Consequently, a single national wage floor could be more manageable in productive areas like the National Capital Region, but could pose more difficulties for “lower-productivity regions and smaller firms to absorb.” As a result, workers may be forced into informal sectors. “So, even if the law changes, not everyone benefits equally.”
Nevertheless, Tiongco emphasizes that if the minimum wage remains at its current rate, workers’ purchasing power may erode, especially when inflation spikes during crises like the fuel shortage sparked by the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
“(U)nchanged wages mean families have less buying power for fuel, food, commuting, and other daily needs… domestic demand may weaken, and dissatisfaction with the wage-setting system may deepen. So, leaving changes may avoid one problem, but it creates another: worsening wage inadequacy,” Tiongco remarks.
Instead of an immediate uniform hike, the article recommends “graduated and region-sensitive strategy,” which means moving toward greater wage convergence over time while taking account of regional economic capacity.
“We also stressed that wage reform should be paired with productivity-enhancing measures such as skills upgrading, SME support, technology adoption, infrastructure investment, and regulatory streamlining. In short, wage policy works better when it is embedded in a broader development strategy,” Tiongco expounds.
Whether an increase to the minimum wage breaks free or remains in legislative limbo may ultimately depend on the willingness of the Congress to confront its economic concerns. However, its difficult legislative history also reflects how improving the lives of Filipino workers is a multisectoral effort that does not only rest on lawmakers passing a bill, but also on the will of employers, workers, LGUs, and other sectors of society to ensure the successful implementation of a wage hike.