Senator Raffy Tulfo on Thursday, Sept. 4, warned Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma on Thursday. Sept. 4, that he will move to defer the agency’s 2026 budget if it fails to improve performance and remove erring field inspectors who neglect their duties.

Tulfo issued the warning during the Senate Committee on Labor hearing, where he serves as Vice Chairperson, on Sept. 4. He revealed that many manufacturing companies in CAMANAVA and Metro Manila, which he personally inspected, have been underpaying their workers—some receiving as little as ₱280 per day. 

“DOLE, wake up, taas nga tayo ng sahod, pero kulang naman sa implementation. Para tayong naglolokohan dito (DOLE, wake up — we may have raised wages, but the implementation is lacking. It feels like we’re just fooling ourselves here),” he said.

"Maging seryoso kayo sa trabaho ninyo. Tinitignan ko yung listahan ng mga kumpanya na dapat inspeksyunin, hindi naiinspect ng field inspectors ninyo. ‘Yung iba namang naiinspect, dumideretso lang sa opisina ng HR officer para sa close-door meeting at hindi man lang kinakausap ang mga worker (Be serious about your work. I’ve been looking at the list of companies that are supposed to be inspected, yet your field inspectors are not inspecting them. And for those that do get inspected, they go straight to the HR officer’s office for a closed-door meeting without even talking to the workers),” he added. 

Tulfo asked Sec. Laguesma to submit a list of DOLE CAMANAVA and Metro Manila field inspectors, along with the companies they visited and their performance reports, to determine whether they are fulfilling their responsibilities.

He stressed that inspectors who neglect their duties should be dismissed immediately. 

“I promise you, Sec. Laguesma, idedefer ko ang budget niyo kapag walang nasibak na pabayang field inspector. Hindi rin naman magrereklamo sakin ang mga manggagawa kung hindi sila inaapi ng mga employers nila. Kung ginagawa ng taga-DOLE ang trabaho nila, nasapul na sana nila ang mga kumpanyang hindi nagpapasahod ng tama (I promise you, Sec. Laguesma, I will defer your budget if no negligent field inspector is dismissed. Workers wouldn’t even be complaining to me if they weren’t being oppressed by their employers. If DOLE personnel were doing their jobs, they would have already caught the companies failing to pay proper wages),” he said

“Either hindi nila ginagawa ang trabaho nila, o korap sila. Kaya dapat may masibak diyan. Kung hindi kayo magsisipag-ayos diyan sa DOLE, ipapa-defer ko ang budget ninyo (Either they are not doing their jobs, or they are corrupt. That’s why someone must be dismissed. If you at DOLE don’t straighten things out, I will have your budget deferred),” he added.

In response, Laguesma said he takes serious note of Tulfo’s manifestation and commits to address these concerns.

Senator Imee Marcos, who presided over the first organizational meeting and public hearing of the committee, tackled proposed measures on the minimum wage increases. According to the senator, significant differences in the regionalization of wages have resulted in what is known as an inequitable provincial rate.

She said the National Capital Region (NCR) has the highest daily minimum wage at P695 for non-agricultural workers while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) continues to post the lowest minimum wage at P411.

“A P284 gap from the NCR, according to the Department of Labor and Employment, such a proposed wage increase will directly benefit 5.1 million wage earners and indirectly benefit 8.1 full-time wage and salary workers,” Marcos said.