MANILA, Philippines — Labor groups denounced on Thursday the filing of another petition suspending the implementation of the P85 minimum wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR), this time before the Navotas City Regional Trial Court (RTC).
In a statement, representatives of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said they filed a motion for leave to intervene alongside 11 other labor groups in response to the petition filed by the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations Inc. (APFFI).
“This case is not merely about legal procedure. It is about protecting the wages and livelihoods of millions of workers whose voices deserve to be heard before any court decides their fate,” said FFW president Sonny Matula.
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Declaratory relief
The APFFI, composed of 52 companies and domestic corporations engaged in commercial fishing, asked the Navotas court on July 29 to issue a status quo ante order suspending the wage hike while its request for declaratory relief remains pending.
A declaratory relief is a remedy filed by a person affected by a government regulation with the goal of urging the court to determine any question of construction or validity and issue a declaration of the person’s rights and duties.
This follows the petition filed on July 23 by construction companies Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders Inc., whose request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against NCR Wage Order No. 27 was granted by the Pasig City RTC on July 30.
The order approves an P85 increase for minimum wage workers in Metro Manila to be given in two tranches. The first tranche of P60 took effect on July 25 before it was suspended by the TRO that will be in force until Aug. 13. The second tranche of P25 is due in Jan. 20 next year.
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Imminent injury
In its petition, APFFI said it “faces an imminent, nonspeculative injury” caused by the wage order, which it argued was “fixed without due regard [for] the standards required by Article 124 of the Labor Code.”
Similar to the arguments of Readycon and R-II, APFFI said the wage increase was determined “without adequate regard [for] compounding economic conditions” such as the subsequent fuel price hikes.
Labor groups, however, urged the Navotas RTC to dismiss the petition, citing the court’s lack of jurisdiction to hear and decide matters concerning or related to the determination of a minimum wage.
Aside from FFW and Nagkaisa, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) also filed an urgent motion to intervene before the Navotas RTC on Wednesday in response to APFFI’s petition.
The TUCP said it will not allow another attempt to deprive workers of their long-overdue pay hike. /atm