THE Federation of Free Workers (FFW) urged the Supreme Court (SC) to act on the challenge to the P85 daily minimum wage increase in the National Capital Region (NCR), saying prolonged litigation is delaying wage relief for workers.
“The minimum wage is not a gift to workers,” FFW President Jose Sonny G. Matula said in a statement in Filipino on Wednesday. “Nearly 90 years ago, President Quezon already recognized that the government has a duty to act when wages are insufficient to meet the reasonable needs of workers.”
The P60 first tranche of the NCR wage increase was restrained by a preliminary injunction issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 152 on Aug. 13.
On Tuesday, labor groups and coalitions filed an urgent manifestation before the SC, asking it to act on their pending petition after the Pasig RTC issued the injunction.
The petitioners include the Kamanggagawa Party-list Rep. Elijah R. San Fernando, Workers and Peasants’ Party of the Philippines, Uni Global Union-Philippine Liaison Council, FFW, National Federation of Labor, Unified Filipino Service Workers, Partido Manggagawa, and Council of Teachers and Employees in Schools, Colleges and Universities in the Philippines.
The groups said in their 20-page manifestation that the Aug. 13 writ “transformed what had initially been a temporary 20-day restraint into a judicial restraint capable of continuing throughout the pendency of the principal action.”
The court issued a 20-day temporary restraining order on July 30, extending a status quo ante order issued by the RTC executive judge on July 24 that prevented the P60 increase from taking effect on July 25. The court set a P10-billion injunction bond for Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders, Inc., which sought the injunction.
The groups questioned whether the RTC had authority to issue the injunction under Rule 58 of the Rules of Court, which governs preliminary injunctions.
“Rule 58 is not a free-floating source of jurisdiction,” they said, arguing that the rule does not independently give the RTC authority to hear challenges to regional wage orders.
The petitioners are asking the SC to determine whether RTCs may directly hear challenges to regional wage orders and issue temporary restraining orders, status quo ante orders, or preliminary injunctions against their implementation.
The groups also challenged the injunction’s issuance before their motions to intervene were resolved, saying workers directly affected by the wage increase were not given an opportunity to present evidence.
“The employers were heard on why they should not pay the P60. Due process required that workers be heard on what it means not to receive it,” the workers said in their pleading.
Mr. Matula said a separate challenge before the Navotas RTC involving the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations, Inc.’s petition against the wage increase underscored the need for an SC ruling.
“Pasig today, Navotas tomorrow — workers cannot wage a courtroom-to-courtroom battle indefinitely,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “One wage order, one fundamental jurisdictional question. We need one authoritative answer from the Supreme Court.”
Labor Secretary Francis N. Tolentino separately met with the NAGKAISA! Labor Coalition and other labor leaders and representatives on Wednesday to discuss wages and the agency’s intervention to defend the NCR wage order in court.
Mr. Tolentino and Assistant Solicitor General Jane E. Yu went to the Pasig RTC on Monday to file a motion for reconsideration seeking to lift the preliminary injunction.
“We believe that this sends a very strong message to the public, especially to us workers, that we have an ally in your leadership,” SENTRO Secretary General Josua T. Mata said in Filipino during the dialogue.
The FFW said the P85 increase should be defended while labor groups push for a P200 nationally legislated wage increase.
“Defend the P85 now because workers need it now. But the P85 is not the finish line,” it said. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez