The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said that on 18 July 2025, there would be a ₱50 increase in the daily pay of 1.2 million minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The wage hike under Wage Order No. 26 received unanimous approval from the “tripartite” NCR Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) and indeed constitutes the largest single wage grant this NCR wage board has awarded to date.
Henceforth, the following shall be the new daily minimum wages in the region:
₱695 instead of ₱645 for non-agricultural workers
₱658 rather than ₱608 for employees engaged in agricultural farming, service and retail establishments with less than 15 employees, and small-scale manufacturing firms that have fewer than 10 regular workers
The increase in wages shall take effect on the penultimate day after the anniversary of a prior minimum wage increase in NCR, which took effect on July 17, 2024.
According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), the daily ₱50 increase translates to additional ₱1,100 for workers with five working days and ₱1,300 for those who have a six-day workweek.
The monthly earnings, according to the new wage rates for non-agriculture employees, will amount to about ₱15,247 up to ₱18,216, depending on the number of workdays in a week. This amount already includes mandatory contributions to social welfare benefits like 13th month pay, service incentive leave, SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG.
In support of this new wage increase, the NCR wage board cited the following economic indicators: GDP growth during the first quarter of 2025 would hit 5.4% based on the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority; inflation in Metro Manila as of May 2025 was at 1.7%; and it recorded 5.1% unemployment in April 2025.
