Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that employers and their capacity to provide pay increases to workers are among the factors considered in the possible minimum wage hike. 

“So, we will study/look at all that, because we must consider not only the demand of the workers, we also need to see if small companies can afford it,” he said in a Laging Handas briefing.

The other factors to be considered are the prices of fuel, goods, and currency exchange rate. 

Laguesma said that there should be a balance and that there is an opportunity to examine issues on non-wage benefits, and subsidies such as the free rides implemented by the Department of Transportation. 

“I am not prohibiting it [wage hikes] and I want it to be clear that our workers also have the right to ask and file their grievances. And based on our existing law system, we have a tripartite body that will look at that,” Laguesma clarified. 

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the National Wages Productivity Commission (NWPC) is in charge of granting wage increase. 

The NWPC said that regional wage boards are only allowed to issue wage orders once a year, unless there is a supervening condition such as an extraordinary increase in oil prices.

Meanwhile, Laguesma asked the public and stakeholders to give them the opportunity to formulate policies that will benefit everyone.