The execution of the approved ₱85 minimum wage raise for employees across the National Capital Region (NCR) remains suspended following a writ of preliminary injunction handed down by the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 152.
In a 14-page ruling, Presiding Judge Marie Joyce Manongsong mandated that the petitioners post a ₱10-billion bond as the court hears the petition contesting Wage Order No. 27, which grants the pay adjustment.
The injunction came just as the temporary restraining order (TRO) that initially halted the wage increase was set to expire on Thursday, August 13.
The trial court reaffirmed its instruction directing the respondents to file their formal response to the petition within the prescribed legal period. Furthermore, the court set a strict deadline regarding labor group intervention attempts.
“Parties are directed to file and furnish the adverse parties, their comment to the motions for intervention filed by the Federation of Free Workers et al, and the Association of Minimum Wage Earners and Advocates-PTGWO within a non-extendible period of three (3) days from receipt of this order,” the document read.
Dissatisfied with the trial court’s intervention, several labor organizations have escalated the matter to the Supreme Court to contest the Pasig RTC’s orders blocking the wage adjustment.
The petitioners contend that the lower court exceeded its authority and violated the Labor Code, arguing that legal jurisdiction over petitions involving wage adjustments lies exclusively with the National Wages and Productivity Commission.