Bayan Muna vows legislated wages that could cope with P1,100 daily cost of living
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 February) — Bayan Muna party-list nominees in Mindanao for the May 2025 elections on Tuesday vowed to address the skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services faced by Mindanawons by legislating salary adjustments that would allow minimum wage earners to cope up with the P1,100 daily cost of family living.
In a statement, Carlos Isagani Zarate, Bayan Muna national executive vice president and second nominee, said the government must address the widening gap between the minimum wage and the actual cost of living in Mindanao.
“The people of Mindanao continue to bear the brunt of rising costs and stagnant wages. Essential goods and services are becoming increasingly out of reach for low-wage earners. This widening gap demands immediate action,” Zarate said as the first day of campaign for senatorial aspirants and partylist groups commenced today.
Minimum daily wage rates in Mindanao are currently below P500 pesos for private sector workers.
In Region XI (Davao region) for instance, Mindanao’s premier economic hub, the prevailing minimum wage rate is P462 for workers in the non-agriculture sector and P457 for those in the agriculture sector.
In Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), the minimum daily pay is P461 for non-agriculture workers and P446 for agricultural workers.
For both regions, the minimum salary was adjusted last year but the increases were less than P50 per day.
Bayan Muna Mindanao stressed that the current minimum wages have not positively affected workers and the ordinary people.
Zarate noted that despite “global price reductions and tariff adjustments,” prices of essential goods such as rice, cooking oil, and eggs remain “alarmingly high.”
The high prices of rice have prompted the national government to declare a “food security emergency” in the country.
“The daily wages in Mindanao are far from meeting the estimated P1,100 daily cost of living required (for minimum wage earners) to sustain a family of five. Many families are forced to cut back on essentials like education and healthcare, compounding the cycle of poverty,” Zarate, who previously served as Bayan Muna representative, said.
The House committee on labor and employment approved a bill for a P200 daily wage increase last January 30. The measure, combining three House Bills (514, 7568, and 7871), was unanimously passed by the 10-member panel.
Former Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia “Ka Femia” Cullamat, the group’s vice president for Mindanao and fourth nominee in the May 2025 elections, said the Marcos administration “failed” to address the economic crisis facing the country.
“As the economic crisis deepens, the Marcos administration’s inability—or refusal—to address the pressing issues of low wages, skyrocketing prices, and pervasive corruption has only intensified public dissatisfaction,” Cullamat said.
She said that public dissatisfaction with the Marcos administration has worsened owing to those factors.
Cullamat said the group will also push for stronger anti-corruption measures should they get enough votes for a seat at the House of Representatives.
Bayan Muna failed to get a seat in the 2022 elections, the first since the group vied for party-list elections in the 2001 midterm elections. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
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