NCR Approves P50 Pay Hike for Minimum Wage Earners

Starting July 18, around 1.2 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will receive a P50 daily pay hike, thanks to the approval of Wage Order No. NCR-26—the biggest wage increase ever issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). 

That brings the new minimum wage rates to P695 per day for workers in the non-agriculture sector and P658 per day for workers in agriculture, retail and service establishments with 15 or fewer employees, and manufacturing firms with fewer than 10 regular workers. 

Workers are looking at an extra P1,100 to P1,300 a month, depending on whether they’re clocking in five or six days a week, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC). That brings the estimated monthly pay for non-agriculture workers to about P15,247 to P18,216—and yes, that already includes things like your 13th-month pay, service incentive leave, SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG.

For labor groups like the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the current minimum wage still falls short of what’s considered a living wage, especially in the capital. Estimates from think tank Ibon Foundation claim a family of five in Metro Manila needs at least P1,217 per day to survive. That’s more than double the new daily minimum. 

Still, the current increase is a step up from the P40 hike in 2024. 

The NCR wage board is the first in the country to issue a new wage order for 2025. It won’t be the only one for long—public consultations in Regions I, II, III, IV-A, and VII are scheduled between July and August, with more regional wage hikes possibly on the horizon.