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Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña and labor activists send a “love letter” to the Supreme Court to look into the Pasig City court’s TRO vs. the P85 wage hike in NCR. Cendaña says the action of the Pasig court sets a dangerous precedent for other courts nationwide. Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Akbayan, labor activists urge SC to probe Pasig court’s TRO vs wage hike

Adrian Ayalin

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA <strong>(2nd UPDATE) </strong>— Akbayan Party-List Rep. Perci Cendaña and labor activists urged the Supreme Court to look into the Temporary Restraining Order issued by Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 152 against the P85 wage hike order in the National Capital Region.</p><p>Asked why they filed a letter instead of a petition, Cendaña said the group is the high court will give due course to their “love letter.”</p><p>He said the letter asks the Supreme Court, particularly the Office of the Court Administrator and Judicial Integrity Office, to look into &quot;what happened at the Pasig RTC.&quot;</p><p>The group cited in their letter addressed to Judicial Integrity Office Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Tolentino the two orders issued by the Pasig RTC: A Status Quo Ante Order issued by the executive judge on July 24, and the TRO issued by Branch 152 on July 30.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/8/10/workers-rising-costs-cannot-wait-for-litigation-on-wage-hike-labor-lawyer-2317"><strong>Workers, rising costs cannot wait for litigation on wage hike — labor lawyer<br/></strong></a></div><p>In their letter, the group emphasized that Article 126 of the Labor Code prohibits the issuance of any court of a preliminary or permanent injunction or TRO.</p><p>“The said provision provides a specific statutory mechanism for an aggrieved party to challenge a wage order through an appeal to the National Wages and Productivity Commission within ten (10) calendar days from publication,” the letter stated.</p><p>The letter was also signed by representatives of Sentro ng Nagkakaisang Progresibong Manggagawa, National Union of Workers in the Hotel, Restaurant and Allies Industries, League of Independent Bank Organizations, United Domestic Workers Federation, Pin@y Careworkers Transnational, Tala Estate Settlers Federation, National Alliance of Broadcast Unions and the National Union of Workers in the Power Industry.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;ORDER NOT IN RULES&#x27;</strong></div><p>The groups also noted in the letter that Rule 58 of the Rules of Court enumerates three remedies: Writ of preliminary injunction; a TRO, which may be acted upon only after all parties are heard in a summary hearing; and a TRO issued as a matter of extreme urgency.</p><p>“The Status Quo Ante Order appears nowhere in Rule 58, nor anywhere else in the Rules of Court as a remedy expressly identified for a court of first instance,” the group said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/8/5/tucp-seeks-dismissal-of-new-petition-vs-ncr-wage-hike-1719">‘Malinaw itong pattern’: TUCP seeks dismissal of new petition vs. NCR wage hike<br/></a></div><p>Cendaña stressed that if the Supreme Court does not intervene, other courts in the country may also issue orders against wage hikes.</p><p>“This sets a very dangerous precedent,&quot; he said, adding there likely already are lawyers in regions where wage hike petitions have been filed ready to file their own petitions for TROs.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>SC PETITION READIED</strong></div><p>In an advisory, Kamanggagawa Party-List Rep. Elijah San Fernando&#x27;s office said he and several labor groups, including the Federation of Free Workers, Partido Manggagawa, and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, will file a petition at the Supreme Court on Wednesday questioning the Status Quo Ante and temporary restraining orders.</p><p>The petition will assert the regional trial courts&#x27; lack of jurisdiction on wage board proceedings &quot;and that the Supreme Court must issue guidance to the bench and bar to prevent taking cognizance of future TROs of the same nature.&quot;</p>

<p>Akbayan Partylist Rep. Perci Cendaña and other labor activists urged the Supreme Court to look into the TRO issued by a Pasig City Regional Trial Court against the NCR P85 wage hike order.</p>

Akbayan Partylist Rep. Perci Cendaña and other labor activists urged the Supreme Court to look into the TRO issued by a Pasig City Regional Trial Court against the NCR P85 wage hike order.