ILOILO CITY — Labor groups have strongly condemned the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the National Capital Region Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board after officials issued Wage Order No. 28, which reduces a planned daily minimum wage increase from P85 to P60.

The UNI Global Union-Philippine Liaison Council and the United BPO Workers of the Philippines described the new directive as a setback for labor rights, demanding the immediate enforcement of the original P85 increase approved under Wage Order No. 27.

The unions urged the government to apply the P85 increase retroactively to 25 July arguing that workers are entitled to accumulated backpay.

Anthony Demisana, an organizer for UNITED BPO and the Congress of Independent Organizations, accused the labor department of prioritizing corporate interests over workers’ welfare by replacing the higher wage adjustment with a lower, non-retroactive rate.

“DoLE did not just fall short,” Demisana said. “They formally bowed and submitted themselves to the whims of big corporations.”

Demisana estimated that reducing the daily wage hike from P85 to P60 will deprive more than 1.1-million Metro Manila workers of a combined P2 billion in backpay.