MANILA – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Monday filed a wage petition pushing for a PHP470 increase in the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila.

TUCP president Raymond Democrito Mendoza asked the National Capital Region-Regional Wages and Productivity Board (NCR- RTWPB) to approve the hike, noting that hunger and malnutrition are now plaguing the more than 5 million minimum wage earners and their families in the region.

“Wherefore, petitioner Trade Union Congress of the Philippines most respectfully prays for the granting of PHP470.00 daily wage increase for all private sector workers in the NCR to be given across-the-board since all need healthy food and are subject to the same changes in the prices of goods and services,” he said in a five-page petition.

The labor group official added since November 2018 when the last wage hike order was issued, prices of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene increased by as high as 41 percent, 24.51 percent, and 29.37 percent, respectively.

“Clearly, there is an urgent need for the RTWPB to act on our petition immediately. This is a race against time for the survival of millions of workers…,” Mendoza added in a statement.

He believed that the continuing increases in the price of oil triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ensuing economic and digital war, will further push the prices of food and other essential items upwards.

“In 2019, our wage petition was dismissed. In 2020, Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) took its toll on us. In 2021, we fought to recover, and endured. Today, we make an action for and behalf of the poor workers and their families in Metro Manila — we are waging war against poverty, we are aiming for a wage that will save our lives,” Mendoza said.

He added that the present monthly take-home pay of PHP12,843 is far below the PHP16,625 per month poverty threshold for a family of five in the NCR.

“Our workers are facing serious health problems because they cannot afford to buy and eat nutritious foods and are vulnerable to illnesses which negatively affect their productivity, while workers who got perennially sick need health services by the government which further stress scarce public funds and resources,” he added.

On Nov. 22, 2018, the region’s wage board issued Wage Order No.