Senator Alan Peter Cayetano renewed his call for the creation of an Executive-Legislative Labor Commission (LabCom), saying it is key to fixing the country’s wide wage disparities.

Cayetano made the pitch as the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development reviewed the national minimum wage, possible wage hikes, and the push for a living wage during its hearing on Sept. 4, 2025.

“If we want our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to choose to stay in the country and not abroad, we have to have a labor commission,” Cayetano said. 

“This (bill) will 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.

Cayetano earlier filed the proposed LabCom Act of 2025 (Senate Bill No. 104) at the start of the 20th Congress as one of his 10 priority measures. 

The proposed LabCom will be responsible for crafting industry-specific and region-sensitive wage policies, instead of depending on broad legislated wage hikes that often get stalled in Congress. 

Under the bill, the definition of living wage is described 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.”

“The LabCom will not talk in generalities. It will come out industry specific,” Cayetano said.

The proposed Commission will include representatives from Congress, the Senate, and key agencies such as NEDA, DTI, DOLE, and DMW. It will also bring in voices from big business, MSMEs, and the labor sector.