Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 202

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE OF PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS
TO A LIVING WAGE OF P1,200

Wages are supposed to represent the commodity price of labor power. But it is
one of the injustices of our times that unlike other commodities whose prices
automatically move up and down the baseline according to the swings in the market,
workers have to fight for significant wage increases while the government ties its hands
even in the face of historic surges in inflation data.

During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. average nominal wages were
even slashed significantly on the whole. Average monthly wage rates of time-rated
workers on full-time basis in the Philippines was recorded at P16,486 in 2020. a 9.0
percent nominal decrease from the P18.108 posted in 2018 according to the 2020
Occupational Wages Survey. This points to a glaring contraction of the workers”
nominal wages in the midst of the pandemic and economic paralysis, and consequently
to a huge contraction of the real value of workers’ wages. As of 2022, the average
monthly wages of workers is P18.423, which is barely higher compared to 2018.

While the minimum wages in the 17 regions increased by hesitant small steps
since the inception of the regional wage boards, the prices of basic goods and services
increased by wild leaps and bounds across the country, unobstructed by any government
intervention. This resulted in a widening gap between minimum wage and cost of living.

‘As economic activities resumed and as oil companies capitalized on the
escalating tensions in West Asia, particularly the Russia-Ukraine and Isracl-lran
conflicts, to artificially jack up local pump prices, the country’s inflation rate soon
skyrocketed to record h



In 2023, the annual inflation rate in the Philippines climbed to a 14-year-high of
6% from 5.8% in the previous year. In particular, the January 2023 inflation data pointed
to the highest level since November 2008, mainly prompted by rising prices of housing,
electricity, gas, and other fuels (8.5% vs 7% in December 2022). Albeit at a lower
inflation rate of 3.2% in 2024, and 1.3% to 2.9% in the past few months of 2025. prices
of basic goods and services continue to increase amid stagnant wages.

In the midst of this worsening economic situation, workers wages remain
meager, hindering workers from providing a decent living for their families and from
attaining their constitutional right to a living wage.

The living wage, as defined by the National Wages and Productivity
Commission (NWPC), is: “the amount of family income needed to provide for the
family’s food and non-food expenditures with sufficient allowance for
savings/investments for social security so as to enable the family to live and maintain a
decent standard of human existence beyond mere subsistence level, taking into account
all of the family’s physiological, social and other needs.”

According to the IBON Foundation, the P645 minimum wage in Metro Manila,
the highest regional minimum wage in the country, is only 52.8 percent of the P1,222
family living wage in the region as of May 2025. In the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which has the lowest minimum wage, the
P361 basic daily pay is only 17.5 percent of the region’s family living wage of P2,058.
The real value of these minimum wages have continued to fall and are down to PS18
for Metro Manila measured at 2018 prices.

‘The average gap in the current regional wage rates and the regional family living
wage stands at P755, with the minimum wage-family living wage gap highest in the
BARMM at P1,697, followed by the P863-gap in Region IX. This gap between the
minimum wage and the family living wage starkly represents the vast sea of unfulfilled
basic necessities of ordinary Filipino families, which the national government should
urgently address through substantial wage increases amid historic inflationary surges.

For 2023, the Marcos Jr. administration even gave the greenlight for the increase
in monthly mandatory contributions for the Social Security System (SSS) and PAG-
IBIG, while temporarily holding off the increases in the contributions for Philippine
Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth). These increases in state exactions have further
trimmed the daily take-home pay of workers and further diminished the chances of
minimum wage earners of bringing home a decent meal for their families.

Workers’ groups have argued that, among the factors to consider in the
determination of minimum wages, wage boards should give more weight on “the
demand for living wages,” especially since workers’ actual conditions show us that the
current minimum wage rates barely enable working class families to escape or stay
above mere subsistence.


As legislators, we must consider the proposals being forwarded by workers
groups since it comes from their concrete situation. However, the 19" Congress failed
to pass a legislated wage increase despite the demand of Filipino workers. It failed to
harmonize the differences of House Bill 10319 and Senate Bill 2534, which provides
for a P100 and P200 increase in minimum wage, respectively. Moreover, the economic
managers of the Marcos administration are opposing the meager wage increase citing
possible inflationary impacts.

Workers ought to receive higher remuneration for all their hard work. If the
Constitution guarantees that workers ought to receive their just share in the fruits of
production, then it should be reflected in the wages they receive.

Data shows that labor productivity has increased over the years. The World
Bank’s Development Indicators showed that labor productivity in the Philippine:
computed as GDP divided by total employment—is $21.350' (or P1,051,48722) in
2021. This is, however, lower than the East Asia and Pacific’s average of $35,940
(P1,770,045) and the world average of $41,353 (P2,036,635) in 2021. Meanwhile, the
Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest labor productivity data (2018) shows that
labor productivity across all sectors stands at P423,408

Increased labor productivity has not resulted in higher wages. Rather, it gave
higher profits for big businesses and the further concentration of wealth to a few.

According to the BusinessWorld Top 1000 Corporations in the Philippines
report, the aggregate gross revenue of the top companies jumped 17.5% in 2021 (or
P13.44 trillion), from the P11.44 trillion posted during the height of the pandemic in
2020. This was the fastest gross revenue growth since the 24.4% expansion recorded in
2001. The top corporations’ combined net income surged 121.5% to P1.82 trillion in
2021, from P820.17 billion in the year prior. This profit growth was the biggest since
the 160.3% rise seen in 2005.4

Medium and large enterprises account for around 42% of total employment,
while micro and small enterprises account for the rest.5 In terms of revenue and income,
medium and large enterprises are relatively stable and can cope with giving their
workers higher wages. Large enterprises have also heavily benefitted from the
Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act due to lower
corporate income taxes, but this has hardly translated to higher wages for workers.
Pangilinan-led telecommunications giant PLDT, for instance, reported P900 million in

01 ge world-deve lopment:

"In constant 2017 PPP §. Retrieved from: https: databank. orld
indi

: https://psa.gov.phi/labor-productivity
“ See: https://www.bworldonline.com/top-stories/2023/0 1/03/496 154/philippines-top-1000-corporations-
bounced-back-in-2021/

5.2021 data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
See: https://dtiwebfiles.s3.ap-southeast-

| amazonaws.com/BSMED/MSME+202 I Statistics/2021+Philippine+ MSMI:+Statistics+in “Brief pdf



savings from the lowered income tax and revised incentives. Po family-led Century
Pacific Food Inc. likewise reported that it benefitted from the implementation of
CREATE, as well as from an income tax holiday on its new tuna plant.*

According to the IBON Foundation, study shows that the amount needed to raise
the current minimum wage to P1,200 living wage is doable if the employers deduct it
from their huge profits and do not pass it on to consumers. The needed wage increase
only requires 29.7% to 49.1% of the profits amassed by private employers

Meanwhile, we recognize the impact of mandating wage increases on micro and
small businesses which is why the government must act by providing wage subsidies to
ensure that their workers receive fair wages while ensuring the survival of their
businesses.

We have to counter the argument that wage hikes are inflationary. Various
economists have already said this to be false. On the contrary, increasing wages has a
‘strong economic multiplier effect. For one, low-income wage workers tend to spend
most of what they earn because they are starting from low levels of consumption — as
opposed to profits which are often saved and accumulated. Second, wage increases will
be spent locally and on MSMEs including informal enterprises in their communities —
thus spurring local economic activity which helps small businesses and induce job
generation. Third, low-income families spend around 48% of their income on food —
meaning increased spending on food will stimulate demand and economic activity in
the countryside.

Amid this bleak situation, legislating the increase of the minimum wage of
private sector workers to P1,200 family living wage becomes extremely urgent to close
the gap between the current minimum wage and the calculated family living wage
across regions. This will bring direct and concrete relief not just to millions of minimum
wage earners but also to workers in other wage classifications, and will be largely felt
even by non-wage earners due to the wage hike’s multiplier effect.

This proposed wage increase Bill should be certified as urgent by President
Marcos, Jr. Legislating a significant wage increase is long overdue, especially under the
current dire circumstances and the demonstrated failure of the thirty-six-year regional
wage regime.

® hutps://www.philstar.com/business/202.1/08/09/2 1 18532/create-law-pushes-vorporations-camings-resulls-
higher


For the foregoing reasons, the passage of this bill is sought.

ép. ANTONIO L. TINIO Rep. RI it | YOUISE M. CO
ACT Teachers Party-List KAHATAQN Party-List



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No.202

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE OF PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS
TO A LIVING WAGE OF P1,200

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SEC 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “P/,200 Living Wage Act of
2025.”

SEC 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to ensure
workers’ right to a living wage and to humane conditions of work.

In order to promote a living wage for the workers, the State adopts and hereby
institutionalizes the legislation of a national minimum wage as the primary mode of
setting wages for private sector workers in the country and to address regional wage
disparities and to harmonize wage levels across regions with the national economic and
social development plans. Legislated national wage increases should not be in prejudice
of existing terms and conditions on wages as contained in collective bargaining
agreements.

SEC. 3. Living wage for workers. — For the purposes of this Act, living wage refers to
the amount of family income needed to provide for the family's food and non-food
expenditures with sufficient allowance for savings/investments for social security so as
to enable the family to live and maintain a decent standard of human existence beyond
mere subsistence level, taking into account all of the family's physiological, social and
other needs.


Upon the effectivity of this Act, the daily rate of all minimum wage workers in the
private sector, regardless of employment status, including those in contractual and sub-
contractual arrangements, whether agricultural or non-agricultural, shall be increased to
a living wage currently amounting to One Thousand Two Hundred pesos (P1,200.00)
per day.

SEC. 4. Correction of Wage Distortion. — Where a wage distortion occurs as a result
of the increase in minimum wage under this Act, the employer and the union, or the
employer and the workers, in the absence of a union, shall negotiate to correct the
distortion in accordance with the provisions of Article 124 of Presidential Decree No.
442 or the “Labor Code of the Philippines”, as amended, and other existing laws. rules
and regulations.

SEC. 5. Subsidy or Incentives to Small Enterprises. ~ To assist in their compliance
with the wage increase, small enterprises may avail of incentives from the Department
of Labor and Employment (DOLE), subject to the implementing rules and regulations
of this Act.

SEC. 6. Non-diminution of Other Benefits. — Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to reduce any existing allowance and benefit of any form under existing laws, decrees,
issuances, executive orders, and any contract or agreement between workers and
employers.

SEC. 7. Credible Wage Increase. — No wage increase arising from. collective
bargaining agreements shall be credited as compliance with the increases prescribed
under the Act except when such wage increase was granted in anticipation of the
legislated across-the-board wage increase under this Act; Provided That where such
anticipated increase is less than the prescribed increase under this Act, the employer
shall pay the difference; Provided finally, That such increases shall not include
anniversary wage increases, merit wage increases, and those resulting from the
regularization or promotion of employees.

SEC. 7. Existing Exemptions. — As provided by Republic Act No. 9178, also known
as the “Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBE’s) Act of 2002,” the BMBEs shall
be exempt from the coverage of the Minimum Wage Law. Further, as provided by
Republic Act No. 6727, also known as the “Wage Rationalization Act,” and relevant
rules of the National Wages and Productivity Commission, the following
establishments may apply for exemption from compliance with the minimum wage
increase as provided by this Act: (a) retail or service establishments regularly employing
not more than ten (10) workers; and (b) establishments adversely affected by natural
calamities or human-induced disasters.

SEC. 8. Inspection by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). ~ The
DOLE shall, upon approval of this Act, conduct inspection of the payroll and other
financial records kept by the company or business to determine whether the workers are
paid the mandated across-the-board wage increase and other benefits granted by law. In


unionized companies, the DOLE inspectors shall always be accompanied by the
president or any responsible officer or the recognized bargaining unit or of any
interested union in the conduct of the inspection. In non-unionized companies,
establishments or businesses, the inspection should be carried out in the presence of a
worker representing the workers in the said company. The workers’ representative shall
have the right to submit his own findings to the Department and to testify on the same
if he does not concur with the findings of the labor inspector.

SEC 9. Penalties. — Any person, corporation, trust, firm, partnership. association or
entity which refuses or fails to pay their workers the mandated minimum wage set
herein and any of the succeeding legislated wage increases shall be punished by a fine
which shall be fixed at one hundred percent (100%) of the total amount of the wage
increment due to the employees to be multiplied by the number of working days the
wage increment has been unpaid to the employees or imprisonment of not less than
three (3) years nor more than five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment at the
discretion of the court; Provided, That any person convicted under this Act shall not be
entitled to the benefits provided for under the Probation Law.

The employer concerned shall be ordered to pay the employees moral damages of Fifty
Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) each employee plus an amount equivalent to double the
unpaid benefits owing to the employees: Provided, That the payment of indemnity shall
not absolve the employer from the criminal liability imposable under this Act.

If the violation is committed by a corporation, trust or firm. partnership, association or
any other entity the penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed upon the entity's
responsible officers, including, but not limited to, the president, vice-president. chief
executive officer, general manager, managing director or partner.

‘The Department of Labor and Employment shall have the authority to impose such other
administrative penalties it sees fit to impose under the circumstances of each case of
violation.

SEC. 10. Construction in Favor of Labor. — All doubts in the implementation and
interpretation of the provisions of this Act, including its implementing rules and
regulations, shall be resolved in favor of labor.

SEC 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The Department of Labor and
Employment and other agencies charged with carrying out the provisions of this Act
shall, within sixty (60) days after the effectivity of this Act, formulate the necessary
rules and regulations for its effective implementation.

SEC 12. Separability Clause. — Should any provision of this Act be declared invalid
or unconstitutional, the validity of the other provisions shall not be affected thereby.


SEC 13. Repealing Clause. ~All laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of the Act are hereby repealed, amended or

modified accordingly.

SEC 14. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,