Tovic Salvador

In a pre-Labor Day event, students and youth volunteers from the Akbayan Partylist staged a protest and solidarity walk along University Avenue in UP Diliman, Quezon City, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. The youth group called for decent jobs, higher wages, and an end to contractualization, urging lawmakers to pass the proposed ₱200 across-the-board minimum wage hike and the Anti-Endo Law to protect workers’ rights. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

LABOR DAY- Wage HIke

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Philippine economic managers said the wage hikes proposed by legislators will have several negative consequences for the economy.</p><p>Cabinet secretaries and the head of the central bank on Wednesday issed a statement warning of the &quot;dangerous repercussions&quot; of P100 across-the-board minimum wage hike filed by the Senate, and the P200 hike being pushed by the House of Representatives.</p><p>They argued that the proposed wage hikes will stoke inflation, hurt MSMEs and workers, and damage the economy.  </p><p>&quot;A P200 increase in wages could raise inflation by approximately 2 percentage points (ppts), while a P100 hike may add 0.7 ppts. The substantial minimum wage increase may lead to higher production costs, which could result in higher prices that may disproportionately affect low-income households,&quot; the economic managers argued in the joint statement.</p><p>It added that while inflation is already on a downtrend, and has slowed to just 1.3 percent in May, the planned wage hikes &quot;may reverse this progress and make high inflation rates reappear.&quot;</p><p>Inflation will also hurt the poorest members of society, many of whom don&#x27;t even make minimum wage as they are in the informal sector, the economic managers said.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a2aFmy1JaM0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>MSMEs will also be affected as many may not be able to absorb the wage increase. The economic managers noted that the House wage hike translates to P4,000 a month given a 5-day work week or P4,800 a month for a 6-day work week.</p><p>&quot;To cope, some may increase prices of goods and/or services, reduce their workforce, or worse shut down operations altogether, affecting both employees and the broader economy,&quot; the joint statement added.</p><p>The proposed wage hikes will also weigh down economic growth, according to the joint statement.</p><p>&quot;Estimates show that the across-the-board wage hike will exert substantial downward pressure on GDP by 1.6 ppt for a P200 hike and 0.5 ppt for a hike of P100. Both scenarios are predicted to result in the economy missing the lower end of the GDP growth target range.&quot;</p><p>The economic managers suggested keepingthe current system of adjusting wages through the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards.</p><p>The joint position paper was signed by Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick  Go, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman—as well as Trade and Industry Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque and BSP Governor Eli Remolona.</p><p>Several business groups are also opposing the planned wage hikes citing the similar reasons to the points laid down by economic managers.</p><p>Labor groups however maintain that the wage hikes are needed as workers are already struggling to meet basic needs under current wages. </p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MhGnJP0DxXQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Philippine economic managers said the wage hikes proposed by legislators will have several negative consequences for the economy.</p>

Philippine economic managers said the wage hikes proposed by legislators will have several negative consequences for the economy.

Econ managers oppose wage hike bills citing impact on inflation, MSMEs, growth

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Econ managers oppose wage hike bills citing impact on inflation, MSMEs, growth

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 11, 2025 02:39 PM PHT

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wage hike

economic managers

P200 wage hike

P100 wage hike

minimum wage

inflation

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