Marcos hails workers as nation's 'backbone,' but offers no wage hike amid protests

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. praised Filipino workers as the country's "backbone" and promised more jobs in his Labor Day message Friday, May 1, but gave no signal of a planned nationwide wage increase even as thousands took to the streets today demanding one.

In a statement released as he headed to General Santos City for the 124th Labor Day celebration, Marcos called on both the government and the private sector to make sure "hard work is rewarded and opportunity is real."

"Even as technology advances and industries transform, one truth endures: it is the Filipino worker who drives the Philippines forward and keeps the world in motion," Marcos said.

He described workers' grit and sacrifice as the source of families' stability and the country's strength, and said his administration would defend their dignity "by creating more and better jobs, boosting worker protection, and broadening pathways for all to succeed."

No new hike on the table

Workers can expect no wage increase this Labor Day — a move the Department of Labor and Employment had already ruled out weeks earlier, saying no nationwide hike would be announced on May 1.

DOLE had stressed that minimum wage adjustments would continue to be determined at the regional level unless Congress passes a law mandating a national increase. 

The Federation of Free Workers renewed its call for Congress to pass a P200 across-the-board daily wage increase, while the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines pushed for a P5,000 monthly wage subsidy for minimum wage earners. A P200 wage hike bill passed the House in June 2025, but Congress adjourned before the House and Senate could reconcile their competing versions — P200 in the House versus P100 in the Senate. 

Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno led marches from España Boulevard to Mendiola in Manila, with parallel protests across Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Negros, Cebu, Panay and Davao. KMU chair Jerome Adonis called May 1 a "day of reckoning."  

Metro Manila's daily minimum wage of P695 is the highest in the country; the lowest is P411 in the Bangsamoro region. IBON Foundation estimates the average daily wage nationally sits at P503 — roughly P750 short of the family living wage. 

Unemployment fell to 5.1% in February from 5.8%  in January, but remains above the 3.8 percent posted a year earlier. About 5.84 million Filipinos are underemployed, or those who are working but seeking more hours or better pay. 

Meanwhile, the country's biggest business and labor groups issued a joint statement on the eve of Labor Day, calling on the government to suspend or remove VAT on fuel, electricity and basic commodities. The coalition — which includes the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Employers Confederation, and several major labor federations — warned "the rising cost of essential goods is placing unsustainable pressure on both livelihoods and businesses."

On the government side, DOLE rolled out job fairs at 88 sites nationwide with over 115,000 vacancies.