Palace: P200 across-the-board minimum wage hike under review

Presidential Press Officer Claire Castro. Screengrab from RTVM/FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed P200 across-the-board minimum wage increase is currently under review by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, a Palace official said on Wednesday.

This came in response to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’ (TUCP) call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent the bill granting the wage hike.

“Actually, our President’s only directive is to follow what is in the labor code. And he also gave an order for the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board to review the salaries or wages of our countrymen in each region,” said Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, in Filipino, at a briefing.

READ: Marcos: Proposed P200 minimum wage increase requires further review

Wage hike in regions

“And currently, there has been a review in 16 regions and there are also regions that have increased salaries.”

In their appeal, the TUCP pressed Marcos to “rise above current political distractions” and certify the P200 legislated wage hike as an urgent priority measure.

READ: MSMEs to absorb impact of P200 wage hike – DOLE

But in an ambush interview last January, Marcos maintained that the proposed wage hike needs further review.

“Well, the thing is we have a tripartite board that actually determines the increase in the wage. So, we have to still  — we still have to study it further to see how that will work together. Because this tripartite body was also created by Congress. They established it, wrote the law, and formed this kind of entity. It is their job to determine what the minimum wage should be,” he told reporters.

“So, now with this, I don’t know how that’s going to work together. But we will see. We’ll try to find a solution because, as you know, it’s clear that the prices of goods are rising, and inflation is still there. We haven’t fully brought it under control yet,” Marcos also said.