HOUSE Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan on Sunday said he expects the country’s 17 regional wage boards to roll out a fresh round of minimum wage increases starting this June, amid mounting fuel-driven inflationary pressures.
“There’s no question that a new round of regional wage hikes is now fully justified, mainly due to the inflationary impact of elevated fuel prices linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” Libanan said in a statement ahead of the country’s celebration of Labor Day on Friday.
Libanan stressed the urgency of restoring workers’ purchasing power to sustain consumption spending and economic growth.
“We have to restore the lost buying power of the country’s 5.2 million minimum wage earners if we want to revive and sustain consumption spending—and, by extension, the broader economy,” Libanan said.
“Persistent price increases have steadily eroded real wages. Many workers are effectively earning less in real terms today than they did before, despite previous nominal pay adjustments. This wage erosion must be reversed through timely and meaningful wage increases,” Libanan added.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in the National Capital Region (NCR) is expected to lead the next cycle of wage adjustments.
“We are counting on the NCR wage board to kick off the series of regional wage adjustments this June,” Libanan said.
The NCR wage board last issued a wage order on June 24, 2025, raising the daily minimum wage by ₱50—from ₱645 to ₱695—effective July 18, 2025.
The 16 other regional wage boards then followed suit, implementing their own adjustments one after the other within 10 months after the Metro Manila pay increase.
Under existing law, wage boards may increase the minimum wage only once every 12 months, unless supervening conditions warrant an earlier adjustment.
Libanan also noted that minimum wage hikes tend to ripple across pay structures within firms.
“Regional minimum wage increases are also likely to benefit higher-paid workers, as employers move to correct wage distortions,” he pointed out.
Wage distortion occurs when mandated increases in minimum pay narrow or eliminate the gap between entry-level and more senior positions, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. Employers typically address this by granting proportional adjustments to higher-ranked employees.
Recent economic data underscore the need for wage intervention.
Headline inflation accelerated to a 20-month high of 4.1 percent in March, driven largely by a 9.9 percent surge in transport costs due to fuel price shocks, alongside rising food prices.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has also flagged a worsening inflation outlook.
“The inflation outlook has deteriorated amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Higher global oil and fertilizer prices have begun feeding through to domestic fuel and food prices,” the BSP said in a statement on April 23.
