BPO workers’ network asks Dole for P1,200 NCR minimum daily wage

MANILA, Philippines — Two days before Labor Day, a network of business process outsourcing (BPO) employees has asked the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) for a wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), demanding a P1,200 minimum wage amid higher costs of goods and services. 

The BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) Philippines on Wednesday filed a petition before the Department of Labor and Employment’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-NCR for workers to be granted a P1,200 living wage. The network noted that the petition for the living wage “is a worker’s constitutional right under Article XIII, Section 3 of the Philippine Constitution.”

READ: DOLE: Wage board approved P50 pay hike in NCR

The provision states that: “The state shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.”

The network cited the computation of IBON Foundation, a non-government research institution, for a family living wage, that a family of five in the NCR should receive a daily wage of P1,266. This is almost double the amount of the current daily minimum wage of P695 for non-agricultural workers in the NCR, of which the P50 increase took effect in July 2025.

The network also said that it conducted its own survey last February among BPO workers and found out that about 20% of them were receiving P15,000-P17,000 basic monthly salary; 13% were receiving P18,000-P20,000 monthly; another 13% receiving P21,000-22,000 monthly; and 10% receiving P23,000-P24,000. 

READ: Groups to renew calls for wage hike, fight vs corruption on Labor Day

It noted that “there exists a supervening event that justifies the immediate review and increase of workers’ wages” such as the oil prices, which has affected many livelihoods and other expenses; sustained rise in prices of commodities; and the declining purchasing power of the Philippine peso; and the declaration of national energy emergency amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

“Granting a meaningful wage increase is therefore both just and equitable to preserve workers’ standards of living amid worsening economic conditions,” BIEN Philippines said in a separate statement. 

The network also urged BPO workers to join mobilization efforts on Labor Day, for the government to heed their calls for a living minimum wage. The National Wage Coalition, composed of big labor groups in the country, will hold a protest on this day to renew calls for a P200 daily minimum wage hike, the expansion of income tax exemptions, and arrest of corrupt government officials. 

The INQUIRER has asked the Dole for a comment on the petition filed and has yet to receive a response as of this writing. /das