As part of his top priority bills for the 20th Congress, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday filed a bill to create an Executive-Legislative Labor Commission (LabCom) — a national body that will spearhead efforts to define a living wage and drive comprehensive reforms for Filipino workers.
Filed on July 3, 2025, the Executive- Legislative Labor Commission (LabCom) Act of 2025 aims to establish the commission to serve as the country’s main policy advisory and coordination body for labor concerns.
With the primary objective of enhancing the right to living wage of the employment sector, it will focus on key issues such as wage adequacy, underemployment, skills mismatch, and protection for informal workers.
It will also craft a National Labor Roadmap, which it will refer to the Trabaho para sa Bayan Council for the progressive realization of the right to a living wage, and submit recommendations to Congress and the President.
“This body will convene representatives from Congress, the Executive branch, Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), trade and industry, and the labor sector, including the migrant and informal sectors, to collectively pursue a sustainable solution to the living wage issue,” Cayetano said in a statement.
Cayetano also said the LabCom will provide “a comprehensive look at what the real wage should be, a living wage towards the society that we aspire for, taking into account the actual expenses of a family for education, health, housing, and public utilities, including internet connection, among others.”
The senator likened the measure to earlier bipartisan efforts like EDCOM I and II (Congressional Commission on Education), which brought together stakeholders to craft concrete solutions for the education sector.
He noted that his co-authors of the bill, Senate President Francis Escudero and Senator Pia Cayetano, who also played key roles in EDCOM II, helped demonstrate how such a collaborative model can produce meaningful and lasting reforms.
“In my experience, as with Senator Pia Cayetano and Senate President Chiz Escudero’s, these are in nature the same arguments we faced with education… EDCOM I and II produced effective, concrete, and actionable recommendations,” he said.
Cayetano expressed confidence that the proposed commission seeks to restore dignity to work and prevent Filipino families from being separated in the pursuit of better livelihoods.
“Not only will this bring us closer to realizing the just and humane society envisioned by our Constitution, it will also help end the endless stream of Filipinos who are forced to leave their homes and families for what they hope would be greener economic pastures continue,” he said.
With millions of workers still stuck in low-paying or unstable jobs, Cayetano believes the LabCom could be a game-changer in the country.
“We’ve done it for education through EDCOM — now let’s do it for labor,” he said.
