Category: Philippine Star

Whether it’s a quick midday baon run, an on-the-go merienda or a late-night craving, Filipino food chain Andok’s is giving barbecue lovers a new reason to celebrate with Dokitori-the all-new Super Chicken BBQ Stick crafted to deliver big, smoky flavor in every bite.

Joining the well-loved Pork Kasim and Liempo BBQ Sticks, Dokitori completes Andok’s skewer lineup with a dedicated chicken option.

Rooted in Filipinos’ deep love for charcoal-grilled flavors, each skewer packs the familiar taste of classic chicken barbecue, delivering a savory, meaty bite highlighted by lightly caramelized edges and a subtle hint of sweetness.

‘Filipinos are always looking for quick, affordable meals that fit their daily rush,’ said Maverick Leonardo Javier, President of Andok’s Litson Corporation. ‘Together with my father, ‘Ama ng Pambansang Litson Manok’ Vice Governor Sandy Javier, and congresswoman Karen Javier, we created Dokitori not just to expand our barbecue line, but to provide our customers with more options to conveniently enjoy our signature charcoal-grilled taste-whether as a sit-down meal or on-the-go.’

Built for fast-paced days and budget-friendly dining at just P65 per skewer, Dokitori is served ready-to-enjoy on a stick for an easy grab-and-go snack, or packaged in an Andok’s meal box with rice (and an optional drink) for a full meal.

While long cherished for its iconic family-style Litson Manok, Andok’s continues to evolve its menu for everyday moments, making its signature flavors even more accessible to solo diners, students and busy working professionals on the move.

The launch of Dokitori also builds on Andok’s expanding menu. It joins a fresh wave of releases with Dokibab, a savory chicken kebab; Shrimpura, a crispy seafood treat; and Chicken Alá Bone, a boneless, charcoal-grilled comfort food staple.

Through these distinct offerings, the Filipino food chain continues to innovate beyond traditional family feasting to cater to dynamic, everyday cravings.

One-day exclusive deal: Buy 1, take 1 on August 15

To celebrate the launch, barbecue fans can score an exclusive Buy 1, Take 1 deal on Dokitori on August 15, 2026.

Available for one day only, this nationwide promo can be claimed across all physical Andok’s branches or ordered online via GrabFood, foodpanda, and andoksdelivery.com.ph.

You may head to your nearest Andok’s branch to try the new Dokitori Super Chicken BBQ Stick today, or visit the official Andok’s Facebook page for more updates.

Six transport groups called off their plan to hold a transport strike on Monday, August 10 after the government granted a P2 increase on fuel discount subsidy.

Transport leaders declared their decision to cancel the transport strike in a meeting with the Department of Transportation on Thursday, August 6.

Pasang Masda, Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP) and Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (ALTODAP) said they will no longer join the strike originally scheduled on August 10 to 12.

Likewise, Boses at Samahan ng mga Jeepney Drivers and Operators Association (BUSINA), Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization (ACTO), and Stop and Go said that they will continue their operations instead.

Welcomed increase

The transport leaders also welcomed the government’s move to increase the fuel discount subsidy to P12 per liter from the previous P10 per liter to cushion the impact of rising domestic pump prices due to the conflict in West Asia.

The approved increase is lower than the P20 per liter discount subsidy proposed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

The leaders of the transport groups who canceled their participation in the strike, however, said the approved increase was already helpful.

The Department of Transportation said the fuel discount increase was among several measures discussed by Transportation Secretary Banoy Lopez during his dialogue with transport groups before the press conference.

According to the agency, Lopez also presented proposed amortization assistance for operators under the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) and the waiver of terminal fees at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) and participating SM terminals, which also contributed to the groups’ decision to call off the planned transport strike.

‘Ngayon, ang gobyerno po, handa naman po tumulong po sa atin dito. Ito po ‘yung nangyari ngayon, malaking tulong na po ito sa sektor ng transportasyon,’ ALTODAP’s President Melencio Vargas said.

(Now, the government is ready to help us. That’s what’s happening now, this is a big help to the transport sector)

The fuel subsidy discount is the government’s aid to public utility vehicle drivers who can avail themselves of oil and gas products from some gas stations in the country for prices lower than normal.

According to the Department of Energy, as of July 30, there are 2,735 participating local gasoline stations in the fuel discount initiative.

Fare hike

The recent increase in the subsidy comes after the country experienced two consecutive weeks of pump price hikes again because of renewed exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran in mid-July, causing disruption to the global oil market.

The transport groups then demanded fare hikes, and announced on August 3, after the LTFRB heard their petitions, that they will stage a three-day transport strike to call the government’s attention to their demand.

Unlike other groups, Malayang Alyansa ng Bus Employees at Laborers para sa Karapatan sa Paggawa (MANIBELA) Chairperson Mar Valbuena said in the same conference that he will consult with the members first before announcing whether they will cancel the strike or continue as planned.

MANIBELA maintained their position that only fare increase can help drivers cope with the rising costs of fuel.

The Cebu provincial government is transforming part of the Capitol grounds into a P10.5-million People’s Heritage Park, designed not only as a 24/7 public open space but also as a flood-mitigating green infrastructure project aimed at reducing stormwater runoff into downtown Cebu City.

Construction of the 2,000-square-meter park is ongoing within the Capitol compound, with completion targeted by September.

The project is intended to demonstrate how green public spaces can help address urban flooding by capturing rainwater instead of allowing it to flow directly into low-lying areas.

Executive Assistant V Elizar Sabinay of the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) said the People’s Heritage Park was conceived as “a multipurpose park that will serve as a water catchment during flooding.”

He explained that, unlike conventional parks, the project incorporates permeable paving materials that allow rainwater to seep into the ground.

“We call it permeable bricks, meaning it sips more water. Because if you put concrete, it doesn’t sip,” Sabinay said.

He added that the landscaping was also redesigned to improve water absorption.

“The grass before was animal grass. We changed it to carabao grass. The carabao grass sips more water,” he said.

Aside from permeable surfaces, the park’s design includes a sunken portion that will temporarily store rainwater during heavy downpours.

According to Sabinay, the collected water will be directed through a drainage system into a pumping facility connected to a water cistern tank, where it will later be reused.

“There’s a drainage that goes here that will go to a particular pumping or water cistern tank that will supply water to our public CR in the park,” he said.

Sabinay said the province’s immediate contribution to easing flooding in downtown Cebu lies in slowing the movement of rainwater from higher elevations.

He noted that the Capitol sits on higher ground, where rainwater naturally flows downhill toward the city’s flood-prone areas.

“The best way is really not to make the water run. Capture it. And making capture of it is to make public parks. Make more green spaces,” Sabinay said.

He said the People’s Heritage Park is envisioned as a model that other local government units (LGUs) can replicate to collectively lessen flooding.

“Although it’s a small park, but if there are a lot of small parks surrounding Cebu City, it will somehow lessen flooding in Cebu City,” he said.

Sabinay acknowledged that a single park will not eliminate flooding but said projects that retain rainwater before it reaches drainage systems can help reduce its impact.

“Hopefully through the park, it will lessen water going down to downtown, so it won’t flood as much as before,” he added.

Beyond its environmental function, the People’s Heritage Park is also designed as an inclusive public space.

Plans include a jogging area, spaces for children and senior citizens, a coffee shop, a public restroom, and a glasshouse that can accommodate meetings and other public or private gatherings.

Sabinay said the park will also incorporate sustainability features, including solar-powered lighting and ventilation systems, while rainwater collected through the park’s drainage and impounding system will be reused to supply water for the public restroom and the glasshouse.

He added that once completed, the People’s Heritage Park will remain open to the public around the clock, making it a 24/7 green space.

Funding for the project comes from the Department of Budget and Management’s Green, Green, Green Program.

Anti-narcotics agents seized a kilo of shabu, costing P6.8 million, from three dealers entrapped with the help of their own relatives and local executives in a residential area in this city on Thursday, August 6.

City and barangay officials separately told reporters on Friday that they would help the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao prosecute the now-detained Jayson Kamsali Karon and his two female accomplices, Meriam Bagundang Rauf and Sambra Mama Gulo, using the P6.8 million worth of shabu confiscated from them as evidence.

Edgar Jubay, director of PDEA-BARMM, said on Friday that the suspects were immediately arrested by PDEA-BARMM agents, backed by operatives from different units of the Cotabato City Police Office led by their director, Col. Jibin Bongcayao, after selling them shabu at one spot in Barangay Rosary Heights 3.

Jubay said the entrapment operation that led to the arrest of the three suspects and confiscation from them of P6.8 million worth of shabu was laid with the help of barangay officials in Rosary Heights 3 and the office of Mayor Bruce Matabalao, who is presiding chairperson of the multi-sector Cotabato City Peace and Order Council.

It was the relatives of Karon, Rauf and Gulo who first reported to Jubay and Matabalao their shabu and marijuana peddling activities in Cotabato City, enabling agents of PDEA-BARMM and policemen to promptly embark on the entrapment operation that resulted in their arrest.

Jubay said all of the three suspects are now locked in PDEA-BARMM’s detention facility, awaiting prosecution for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

PDEA-BARMM agents and policemen had also impounded during the entrapment operation the black minivan of the suspects, with license plates MBK 2638, that they used in delivering shabu and marijuana to contacts in Cotabato City and in nearby areas in Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns in Maguindanao del Norte.

Combined policemen and soldiers shot dead five remnants of the Dawlah Islamiya for resisting arrest in a law-enforcement operation on Thursday, August 6, in Pikit town in Cotabato province that turned haywire.

Lt. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, acting commander of the Western Mindanao Command, and regional police officials in the Bangsamoro region and in Region 12 separately told reporters on Friday that policemen and soldiers were out to check on reporters by Moro villagers about the presence in Barangay Inug-ug in Pikit of the five remnants of the now defunct Dawlah Islamiya, but were forced to neutralize them instead for provoking a gunfight.

The slain terrorists, Marhum Sendig Esmael, Halim Sansawi Usman, Ali Usman Manduh, Rasul Bundas Tito and Bebeh Ayunan Camsa, were all wanted for multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, destructive arson, armed robbery and large-scale trafficking of narcotics cases pending in different courts in Cotabato City and in Central Mindanao’s Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao del Sur provinces.

They are also wanted for their involvement in the March 28 ambush of a police patrol team in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur in the Bangsamoro region that left five policemen dead and three others wounded.

More than 30 followers of Esmael and Usman, six of them, Alazar Mondih Habib, Alimudin Ganoy Usop, Mindong Janas Odin, Amelil Unas Bentol, Ahmed Sangkaya Guimad and Mantato Usop Musalip, are experts in the fabrication of large improvised explosive devices, had surrendered in batches to different units of the 6th Infantry Division in recent months.

All of them had been reintegrated into the local communities via the joint regional reconciliation program for violent religious extremist of the 6th ID, the regional government of the Bangsamoro region and line agencies in Region 12.

Local executives in Cotabato province and their constituent-Moro datus supporting the joint anti-terror operations of the 6th ID and the police told reporters that policemen from units of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office, led by their director, Col. Michael John Mangahis, and soldiers from the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion and the 601st Infantry Brigade were about to surround the location of the five terrorists to serve them warrants for their arrest but the operation turned awry when they opened fire.

Esmael, Usman, Manduh, Tito and Camsa all died instantly from multiple bullet wounds sustained in the gunfight.

Mangahis and Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, acting commander of the 6th Infantry Division, had separately told reporters that policemen and soldiers found beside the cadaver of one of the five terrorists the government-issued combat rifle of Patrolman Apollo Pagurayan, who was killed, along with Patrolman Joerel Basilan Bullos, in an ambush by Dawlah Islamiya terrorists last July 7 in Barangay Tinumigues in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat.

The ambush fatalities Pagurayan and Bullos, who both belonged to the 1202nd Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 12 under the Police Regional Office 12, were riding a motorcycle together, on their way to their company command post from a road security duty, when they were attacked by Dawlah Islamiya terrorists positioned along a stretch of a highway in Barangay Tinumigues, killing them both immediately.

Their assailants took with them the service rifles of the two dead policemen as they escaped.

Local executives in Basilan belonging to the Bangsamoro Federalist Party and their vice governor have pledged support to police and military efforts to ensure orderly September 14 Bangsamoro regional polls to disprove notions that their province is an election hotspot.

Basilan is one of the provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, whose territory also encompasses Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato, where its regional capitol is located.

Radio reports on Thursday, August 6, stated the local officials, the mayors Roderick Furigay of Lamitan City, Kaiser Hataman of Maluso, Jaydeefar Lajid of Al-Barka, Moner Manisan of Tabuan Lasa, Arsina Kahing Nano of Hadji Muhtamad, Arcam Istarul of Tipo-Tipo, Talib Pawaki of Mohammad Ajul, Jomar Maturan of Ungkaya Pukan, Nasser Abubakar of Lantawan, Vice Mayor Super Kalang of Tuburan and Vice Gov. Hadjiman Salliman, agreed, during a meeting in Isabela City, Basilan on Tuesday, to cooperate in ensuring safe and clean elections in their province on September 14.

The vice president of the Basilan chapter of the Philippine Councilors League, Alfarouck Alfad, a town councilor in Tabuan Lasa, and Suraija Reina Hataman, a candidate of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party for one of the parliamentary seats in the province, were also present in the peace dialogue.

They reportedly agreed then to fuse ranks and help push forward the election security missions in their province of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade, the Basilan Provincial Police Office and the Commission on Elections.

Bangsamoro Parliament Member Naguib Sinarimbo, regional spokesperson of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, told reporters on Thursday that their party mates in other BARMM provinces and in its three cities shall also assure, via public statements, of their commitment to abide by election laws during the September 14 first-ever regional polls in the autonomous region.

The Bangsamoro Federalist Party, which has chapters in all of the provinces and cities in BARMM, is one of the political parties that the Comelec has allowed to field candidates for the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament.

“We in our party want the September 14 regional elections to be peaceful and clean,” the lawyer Sinarimbo, Cotabato City chapter president of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party, said.

Officials of two other equally well-organized parties, the Bangsamoro Party of the Moro National Liberation Front, most known as the Bapa Party, and the Serbisyong Inklusibo, Alyansang Progresibo, separately told reporters on Thursday that their candidates for the region’s lawmaking body are ready to sign peace covenants, along with rivals in other partisan blocs, manifesting their desire for safe and credible September 14 elections in BARMM.

‘All of our members and supporters across the autonomous region want the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro region to be written in history as one held peacefully and cleanly,’ said the president of the Bapa Party, Regional Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema, chairman of the MNLF.

The MNLF forged a final peace pact with the government on September 2, 1996, brokered by the influential Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a bloc of more than 50 Muslim countries, including wealthy petroleum-exporting states in the Middle East and North Africa.

Presently, the MNLF has appointed representatives to the 80-member BARMM parliament and is also helping oversee the public service thrusts of several ministries and support agencies under the autonomous regional government, whose operations center is in Cotabato City.

Almost, indeed, is not enough.

Chezka Centeno rallied back from two sets down but fell short against Margarita Fefilova, 1-4, 0-4, 4-1, 4-0, 0-4, in the Banca del Fucino WPA Women’s 10-ball world championship final Thursday evening (Manila time) at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Rome, Italy.

The defending champion Centeno tried to push for a reverse sweep after dropping the first two sets, but could not complete the come-from-behind rally in a heartbreaking finish.

After the Filipina cue artist erased the Belarusian’s lead, 2-all, Fefilova displayed remarkable steadiness in the first game of the fifth set to take a 1-0 lead.

The two players then had a hard time in the second game, especially with the 2-ball.

Centeno eventually connected, and she sank consecutive balls. However, she missed on the bank, which turned the tide as Fefilova was able to finish off the rack and take a massive 2-0 lead.

In the third game, the Filipina had costly errors – first, a shot that resulted in a foul on the 4-ball, then getting the safety wrong on the 5-ball – which ultimately led to Fefilova reaching the hill.

While Centeno showed signs of life in the fourth game, Fefilova cleared the rack late to grab the victory.

Still, it was a run to remember for Centeno, who would have won her third crown in the event.

The 27-year-old pride of Zamboanga won the 8-ball trophy just a week ago.

With the upcoming rocket test launch in Cagayan, the Philippines is leveraging its location near the equator to attract global satellite providers and space launch companies.

‘When you are near the equator, you save on rocket fuel,’ Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda said at yesterday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.

‘Cagayan is strategic because of its existing infrastructure and proximity to big bodies of water. This launch puts us on the map for other satellite providers to consider us as a partner,’ he added.

While full economic returns may take several years to materialize, establishing a sovereign launch capability is vital to supporting the government’s digital connectivity agenda, Aguda said.

He said satellite communications are crucial during disasters, citing Starlink’s direct-to-cell technology that provided emergency connectivity to 700,000 residents in Mindanao after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake knocked down cellular towers.

The demonstration flight will be the first liquid-fueled sounding rocket to be launched from the Philippines.

Choosing Cagayan as the site of the launch was based on geoeconomic strategy, according to Katrina Ponce Enrile, administrator and chief executive officer of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

The CEZA manages the freeport zone where the space port will be established.

Tropical Storm Maymay (international name: Kujira) moved over Bangued, Abra on Thursday morning after making landfall in Magsingal, Ilocos Sur before dawn, PAGASA said.

In its 8 a.m. bulletin on Thursday, August 6, the state weather bureau said Maymay was carrying maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center, gusts of up to 110 kph and a central pressure of 998 hectopascals.

The tropical storm is moving eastward at 10 kph.

Wind signals

The following areas are under Signal No. 2:

Ilocos Norte

northern and central portions of Ilocos Sur (Gregorio del Pilar, Magsingal, San Esteban, Banayoyo, Cervantes, Burgos, City of Candon, Santa Lucia, Santiago, San Vicente, Santa Catalina, Lidlidda, Nagbukel, Sinait, Suyo, Sigay, San Ildefonso, Galimuyod, Quirino, City of Vigan, San Emilio, Cabugao, Caoayan, San Juan, Santa, Bantay, Santo Domingo, Tagudin, Santa Cruz, Santa Maria, Narvacan and Salcedo)

western portion of Apayao (Conner, Kabugao and Calanasan)

Abra

western and central portions of Kalinga (Pasil, Tinglayan, Balbalan, Lubuagan, Pinukpuk, City of Tabuk and Tanudan)

western and central portions of Mountain Province (Besao, Tadian, Bauko, Sagada, Sabangan, Bontoc, Sadanga, Barlig and Natonin)

Under Signal No. 2, gale-force winds of 62 to 88 kph may be experienced within 24 hours, posing a minor to moderate threat to life and property.

Meanwhile, the following areas are under Signal No. 1:

rest of Ilocos Sur

La Union

northwestern portion of Pangasinan (Bolinao, Anda and Bani)

rest of Apayao

rest of Kalinga

rest of Mountain Province

Ifugao

Benguet

southern portion of the Babuyan Islands (Calayan Island, Dalupiri Island, Fuga Island and Camiguin Island)

mainland Cagayan

Isabela

Quirino

Nueva Vizcaya

northern and central portions of Aurora (Dilasag, Casiguran, Dinalungan and Dipaculao)

Under Signal No. 1, strong winds of 39 to 61 kph may be experienced within 36 hours, posing minimal to minor threats to life and property.

PAGASA said the southwest monsoon and the outer circulation of Maymay will continue to bring strong to gale-force wind gusts over most parts of the country through Saturday, particularly in coastal and upland areas.

Heavy rainfall

PAGASA said Tropical Storm Maymay and the southwest monsoon (habagat) will continue to bring heavy rainfall over parts of Luzon in the coming days.

Thursday, August 6

Tropical Storm Maymay

100-200 mm: Ilocos Sur, La Union, Benguet and Pangasinan

50-100 mm: Ilocos Norte, Abra, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan

Southwest monsoon or habagat

50-100 mm: Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro

Friday, August 7 – Habagat

100-200 mm: Occidental Mindoro

50-100 mm: Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas and Antique

Saturday, August 8 – Habagat

100-200 mm: Zambales, Bataan, La Union, Benguet and Occidental Mindoro

50-100 mm: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Abra, Tarlac, Pampanga, Cavite, Batangas and Antique

PAGASA warned that flooding and rain-induced landslides remain possible, particularly in areas highly susceptible to these hazards. The weather bureau also reminded the public that heavy rainfall may still occur outside the forecast track of the tropical cyclone.

Sea conditions

A gale warning remains in effect over the western seaboard of Northern Luzon.

Very rough seas of up to 4.5 meters are forecast over the seaboards of Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, western Ilocos Norte and northern Batanes. Sea travel is risky for all types of vessels, and mariners are advised to remain in port or seek shelter.

Rough seas of up to 4 meters are expected over the remaining seaboards of Batanes, the Babuyan Islands and the northeastern coast of mainland Cagayan. Seas of up to 3 meters are also forecast over the remaining seaboards of Ilocos Norte and mainland Cagayan, the eastern coasts of Isabela and northeastern Aurora, and the western seaboards of Zambales, Bataan and northwestern Occidental Mindoro.

PAGASA advised operators of small vessels and motor bancas not to venture out to sea in areas with rough seas and to take precautionary measures in areas with moderate sea conditions.

Track, intensity

PAGASA said Maymay will continue crossing the mountainous terrain of Northern and Central Luzon before emerging over the eastern coastal waters of Isabela or Cagayan.

The tropical storm is forecast to weaken into a tropical depression later Thursday morning and may further weaken into a remnant low by Thursday afternoon or evening. However, PAGASA said its interaction with the rugged terrain could cause it to weaken earlier than forecast.

The remnant low is expected to move generally southeastward before merging with the larger circulation of Tropical Cyclone Dolphin.

At a small food kiosk near our place, I had a chance to talk to the owner who told me he was actively looking for a new spot because his lease is higher than prevailing market prices – more expensive by roughly P400 per square meter.

That, plus the cost of looming wage increases, makes doing business difficult for small entrepreneurs like him.

I am sure our MSMEs find the P85 daily wage hike too high.

But first, let me state that I strongly support an increase in wages. I know it is very much needed, especially in these difficult times when people are desperate for help. Just about everything is skyrocketing – food, fuel, tuition, rent, electricity, water, association dues, tolls, transport fares and many more.

And just in – inflation in July remains elevated at 6.2 percent, although slower than the 6.4 percent inflation rate in June and the 6.8 percent rate seen in May.

I very much feel the impact of the rising cost of living in the country and as part of the labor force, I am one with our workers in calling for a wage increase.

But covering the economy for some time now, I am also well aware that the P85 wage increase is something that would be too challenging for small businesses. I know how hard it is to run a business, especially with all the fees and taxes. I used to own a bookstore but had to close my shop because my greedy landlord opted to increase my lease – unreasonably high.

Populist

For sure, an P85 increase is yet another populist measure by the Marcos administration. Perhaps newly appointed Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino wanted to score some ‘pogi points.’ Well, those points are just way too costly for micro businesses.

The conglomerates, for sure, would be able to afford an increase of P85 but for MSMEs which make up 99 percent of the economy, it will be too much.

I recently had a chat with George Barcelon, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, about the wage hike and he said that as a businessman, he is amenable to a P60 wage increase, delivered in two tranches – P30, P30.

But the P85, he said, would indeed be too high for small businesses.

A million new graduates

It would also affect employment in the country. We all know it’s graduation season now with at least another one million people added to the workforce.

How will they be able to find jobs if there aren’t enough gainful opportunities because of challenges such as a wage increase?

Barcelon, however, stressed that he understands the situation. He said it is inevitable that wages should increase. It’s just a matter of arriving at an agreeable rate.

‘We understand the situation and we should all try to help,’ he said.

Similarly, Management Association of the Philippines president Donald Lim recognizes the need to help workers cope with rising living costs.

For him, however, the real solution is improving productivity to boost workers’ incomes.

‘Wage increases by themselves are not a long-term solution. Lasting improvements in workers’ incomes must come from higher productivity, stronger economic growth and better quality jobs,’ he said.

The focus, he said, should now be on helping both workers and businesses by improving the ease of doing business, lowering logistics and energy costs, investing in skills and technology and creating an environment where wage growth is driven by productivity rather than mandated increases alone.

A Pasig City Regional Trial Court issued a temporary restraining order last month which suspended the wage hike until Aug. 13, 2026. The P85 increase was structured in two tranches, P60 on July 25 and P25 on Jan. 20, 2027.

MAP’s Lim said while businesses will respect and comply with the new wage order, many MSMEs will face additional cost pressures that could affect hiring, expansion and pricing decisions.

These business groups of course will always advocate for their interests, but in the case of the wage hike, they are correct in saying that the country’s small businesses will be severely affected.

Federation of Philippine Industries chair Elizabeth Lee said manufacturers are already grappling with elevated energy and logistics costs, tighter financing and global trade uncertainty.

‘For MSMEs, which make up the bulk of the sector, the cumulative effect of these factors – not the wage order alone – is what will determine their capacity to sustain jobs and stay competitive,’ Lee said.

Perhaps what the government can do is to exempt some MSMEs from the P85 increase and recognize that a one-size-fits-all hike could hurt the very workers it seeks to help.

MSMEs clearly operate on much thinner margins than large corporations.

They may be unable to absorb higher labor costs or pass these costs on to consumers, which, in turn, may backfire on the business.

In case you haven’t noticed, there are fewer diners in restaurants now. The servings are smaller and some ingredients have been replaced with cheaper alternatives.

As for non-food businesses, some have closed shop or are ‘under renovation.’

In these usual haunts of the middle class, one feels that vibe again we felt during the pandemic – somber and uncertain.

And yet, just as we did during the pandemic, Filipinos – small entrepreneurs and workers alike – just keep going, trying to survive even while the government remains seemingly oblivious to the realities on the ground.