Despite a Php40 (USD0.74) increase in the minimum wage recently announced in the national capital region (NCR), Filipino families continue to struggle to survive with high inflation rates and high prices according to independent think tank IBON Foundation.

The NCR Regional Wage Board will increase the Php570 (USD10.49) daily minimum wage by Php40 to Php610 (USD11.22) in July 2023. According to IBON, the resulting wage is still much less than the family living wage (FLW) of Php1,160 (USD21.35) for a family of five to live decently in NCR as of May 2023.

This amount, IBON said, is not what labor groups demand and certainly much less than what Filipino workers need and deserve. Several labor groups and legislators have asked for wage increases of from Php750 (USD13.80) to Php1,100 (USD20.23).

“The Marcos Jr administration is not doing enough for millions of poor households with little income and no savings who are being left behind,” said IBON in a statement.

IBON said that Filipino workers and their families are barely surviving on the minimum wage because this is even less than the official poverty threshold for a family of five. ‘Immediate and meaningful wage hikes’, it stressed, are urgent amid high prices, low incomes and widespread joblessness and informality.

The Philippines has the highest inflation rate compared with other countries in Southeast Asia. While inflation eased in June reportedly due to slower price increases in food, transport, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, IBON noted that the prices of basic goods such as rice, vegetables, fish and meat still continued to rise.

Comparing Philippine Statistics Authority price monitoring data for June 2022 and June 2023, the cost of well-milled rice remained high at Php43/kg; of vegetables like native pechay increased from Php75/kg to Php94/kg; of tubers such as potatoes from Php77/kg to Php102/kg; of onions from Php93/kg to Php171/kg; and fish like tilapia from Php130/kg to Php141/kg.