A Pasig court has allowed Metro Manila’s latest minimum wage increase to remain in effect after rejecting an immediate bid by two construction firms to halt its implementation, ordering parties instead to maintain the status quo while it reviews a legal challenge against the wage order.

In a 24 July order, Pasig Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Achilles A.A.C. Bulaitan denied the firms’ request for a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) against Wage Order No. NCR-27, which raised the daily minimum wage for workers in the National Capital Region.

“The court is not inclined to grant the 72-hours TRO,” the court said.

Instead of issuing a TRO, the court directed the parties to preserve the status quo while the case is raffled to a regular RTC branch that will hear the companies’ application for injunctive relief.

“Considering the nature of the petition, and the incoming weekend, there is an urgent need to maintain the status quo between the parties before the petitioners’ application for a Temporary Restraining Order could be heard,” the court added.

It said maintaining the status quo would give the assigned branch “sufficient time to study the merits of the petitioners’ application for ancillary remedies.”

The petition wa

The firms asked the Pasig RTC to declare Wage Order No. NCR-27 invalid, naming the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) and the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) as respondents.

Under Wage Order No. NCR-27, the daily minimum wage for non-agriculture workers in Metro Manila increased from ₱695 to ₱755.

Workers in the agriculture sector, as well as those employed by service and retail establishments with 15 or fewer workers and manufacturing firms with fewer than 10 regular employees, saw their daily minimum wage rise from ₱658 to ₱718.

The wage order provides for a total ₱85 increase to be implemented in two tranches. The first ₱60 adjustment took effect on 25 July, while the remaining ₱25 increase is scheduled on 20 January 2027.

Once fully implemented, the NCR minimum wage will rise to ₱780 per day for non-agriculture workers and ₱743 for workers covered under the lower wage category.