Baguio progressives call for livable wage amid crisis on Labor Day

Aldwin Quitasol 

BAGUIO CITY-- Members of progressive groups and various sectors of Baguio march down Session Road and converged at Igorot Park on May 1, 2026 to call for an increase to the regional minimum wage and serious measures from the government to help the people cope with the worsening economic prices.

Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Cordillera Regions Spokesperson Mike Cabangon said that the crisis shows the widening disparity between the rich and the poor. He stressed that while the prices of fuel shoot up uncontrollably so as the basic goods and services, the workers work like slaves receiving pittance and if there are ever wage increases, they are like insults as they are not based on the actual situations of the people.

He said the current P505 rate is inadequate due to the rising costs of electricity, fuel, and basic goods. No to Oil Price Hike Coalition Baguio-Benguet together with KMU Cordillera the Pinagkaisang Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (PISTON) Metro-Baguio are calling for the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) to issue a new wage order to provide financial relief to the local workforce.

Josie Pinkihan of the Migrante International lamented the conditions of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) where they are trapped in precarious rous environments just like those who are in the Middle East. She said that while their lives in imminent  danger, many of them still chose to take risks as they see the hopelessness in the country.

Fr. Emmanuel Panayo of the Social Action Center (SAC)Diocese of Baguio and the Regional Ecumenical Council in the Cordillera (RECCord) said together with the people, they can t just keep silent on how the lives of the Filipinos get harder everyday because of the economic crisis while the corrupt are freely roaming and doing whatever they want. He said as they pray for mercy amid the crisis, they also demand that justice shall prevail and rights be respected.

The groups also lamented on the band-aid solution of the present government to the crisis. They criticized the administration for not looking into how it can avert the hike of fuel prices by employing meaningful solutions like scrapping the Oil Price Deregulation and suspension if not removing the excise tax and the Valued Added Tax.

The PISTON Metro-Baguio is also calling for the suspension of the modernization program.