The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) lauds with profound gratitude and resounding praise the historic passage of the ₱200 legislated wage hike on third and final reading in the House of Representatives—the first in 36 years since 1989. “This is not just a vote but the resounding declaration of the House of Representatives that no one who works for a living in this country should live a miserable life of chronic hunger and abject poverty. Since 2023, the TUCP Party-list has led the charge in authoring and championing this landmark measure in the 19th Congress. We extend our sincere thanks especially to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez who stood with us in this long hard struggle waged in the name of survival, dignity, and justice. Speaker Romualdez has accomplished what no other Speaker in the past 36 years has dared to do—shepherd a legislated wage hike that has the power to lift over five million minimum wage earners and their families out of poverty and bring the country closer to realizing our fundamental right to a living wage enshrined in our Constitution nearly four decades ago. Generations of Filipino working families will forever remember that it was during the 19th Congress under the leadership of Speaker Romualdez that history was made with the first-ever legislated wage hike in 36 years since 1989 in the name of every Filipino worker and their family. Today, the House of Representatives proved that it is truly the House of the People,” stated TUCP Party-list Representative and House Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza.
The country’s largest labor center TUCP now calls on the Senate and House leadership to immediately convene the bicameral conference committee to reconcile their respective versions—₱100 from the Senate, ₱200 from the House—and produce a final enrolled bill with utmost urgency and resolve.“I appeal to all my fellow bicam conferees—my counterparts in the Senate and my colleagues in the House—let us get this done, and get it done now. We are way past the stage of whether we will pass a legislated wage hike, but how much that wage hike will be. For us workers, of course, the answer is clear: the higher, the better. But regardless of whether it ends up closer to ₱100 or ₱200, this will be the most significant wage increase in nearly four decades which no obsolete broken regional wage board has and can ever come close to matching,” underscored Mendoza.
The May 2025 SWS survey shows over 90% of Filipinos want Congress to prioritize increasing the minimum wage and improving workers’ purchasing power. “The people have spoken—and they could not be clearer: the Philippines demands and deserves a raise! Now, it is time for Congress and Malacañang to listen. We call on President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos, Jr. to seize history and sign the legislated wage hike into law. This is the defining moment to match bold rhetoric with bolder reforms. Let your presidency be forever remembered as the Administration that finally had the vision, the courage, and the will to break the chains of stagnant starvation poverty wages and deliver real hope to our nation’s workers. Mr. President, together, let us boldly reset our national labor and employment policy by placing workers front and center and leaving a legacy of social justice for generations to come. End four decades of socioeconomic neglect and injustice. Sign the legislated wage hike into law now,” urged Mendoza.
