THE Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (Nagkaisa) welcomed the move of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to appeal the preliminary injunction issued against the wage order of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR).
In a statement, Nagkaisa said Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino’s move to file a Motion for Reconsideration before the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) is better than merely expressing concern over the preliminary injunction.
“We appreciate the initiative of Labor Secretary Tolentino in personally pushing for the filing of the urgent Motion for Reconsideration. It is better to file the motion personally than to just be sad. The P60 needs a legal defender, not merely sympathy,” said Nagkaisa.
“This is the kind of institutional response that workers need from the DOLE. It must not be just an expression of concern, but the use of remedies provided by law,” it added.
To recall, the RTWPB-NCR issued Wage Order No. NCR-27, which granted an P85 minimum wage increase in Metro Manila to be implemented in two tranches. The first tranche of P60 was supposed to take effect on July 25, while the second tranche of P25 is set to take effect on Jan. 20, 2027.
On late Thursday, the Pasig City RTC Branch 152 granted the petition for a preliminary injunction against the implementation of Wage Order No. NCR-27.
In response, the DOLE filed a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) before the Pasig RTC, seeking the lifting of the preliminary injunction.
For its part, the labor sector had asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Pasig RTC from taking further action against the implementation of the NCR wage order.
Nagkaisa also called on the SC to immediately rule on the petition filed against the Pasig City RTC.
The labor coalition said it would be best for the SC to rule on the petition questioning the legality of the preliminary injunction issued by Pasig RTC Branch 152.
“We ask our SC magistrates to act with urgency. Workers have already waited long enough for the P60 increase,” said Nagkaisa.
“The Supreme Court must ultimately determine who has the legal right of way: a statutory prohibition in the Labor Code, or a procedural rule invoked to get around it,” it added. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
