THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday, August 14, 2026, vowed to exhaust all available remedies to challenge the preliminary injunction issued by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 152 against the implementation of the wage order issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR).
In a statement, Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino said they are determined to see the implementation of Wage Order No. NCR-27 by having the preliminary injunction lifted as soon as possible.
“We strongly express our concern over this blow to social justice... We will fight until this is resolved and our workers receive what is rightfully theirs,” said Tolentino.
“We will utilize all legal means to challenge and overturn this decision, and to defend the rights and welfare of our workers,” he added.
The labor chief said they will fight for the wage increase as the issue extends beyond a worker’s right to receive higher wages.
“The decision by the Pasig RTC Branch 152 does not merely block the wage hike... it takes food off the tables of over a million workers in Metro Manila and their families,” said Tolentino.
On Thursday night, the Pasig City RTC Branch 152 granted the petition for a preliminary injunction against the implementation of Wage Order No. NCR-27.
This followed the lapse of an earlier temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Pasig City RTC Branch 152 upon the petition of Readycon Trading and Construction Corporation and R-11 Builders, Inc.
Under Wage Order No. NCR-27, the RTWPB-NCR granted an P85 minimum wage increase in Metro Manila, to be implemented in two tranches. The first tranche of P60 took effect on July 25, while the second tranche of P25 will take effect on January 20, 2027. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
