Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday reiterated his call for a living wage for Filipino workers, stressing that true recovery must be anchored on dignity and fairness in the labor sector.
In his message on Labor Day 2026, Cayetano emphasized his vision of a just and humane society as embodied in the Constitution.
He said this can only be realized when workers are paid not merely to survive but to live decently and provide for their families.
“The hope of building a just and humane society will begin once we look beyond simply providing a minimum wage and start aiming for a living wage for all Filipinos,” he said.
“As part of honoring God and building communities through good governance, the State must promote human dignity in the labor sector and create a system where all persons are given the chance to thrive and rise above adversities through proper government support to ensure an enabling working environment that protects their rights, promotes their welfare, and enhances their productivity,” he added.
In the current 20th Congress, Cayetano filed the Executive-Legislative Labor Commission (LabCom Act of 2025 – Senate Bill No. 104) as one of his top 10 legislative measures.
The bill seeks to create a commission that can craft industry-specific and region-sensitive wage policies, instead of depending on broad legislated wage hikes that often stall in Congress.
The proposed measure sets the definition of living wage as “the amount of family income needed to provide for the family’s food and non-food expenditures with sufficient allowance for savings or investments for social security so as to enable the family to live and maintain a decent standard of human existence beyond mere subsistence level, taking into account all of the family’s physiological, social and other needs.”
Moving beyond minimum wage policies, Cayetano said a living wage is essential in addressing rising costs of living and widening inequality.
He especially highlighted the promotion of human dignity in labor as a shared responsibility of the State, especially during times of crisis.
“Ang lahat ng crisis may winners, may losers… unfortunately ang usual losers ay ang mahirap.. Let’s not miss opportunities to help,” Cayetano said.###
