With oil prices rising for nearly 11 weeks and no pay hikes in Metro Manila for three years, the country's largest labor group is demanding a P470 increase in minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) from the Department of Labor and Employment.

Business leaders said this is "too soon" as the surge in oil prices caused by the Ukraine and Russia conflict may only be temporary.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) filed the wage hike, citing inflation and government mandated contributions reduced the "real" value of the P537 minimum wage in NCR to just P454.44 per minimum wage earner.

TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said the prevailing daily minimum wage rate is already insufficient to give a family a decent meal.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Secretary Jose Concepcion said regional tripartite wage boards should be cautious in using fuel prices as a reason for wage hike.

He said a proposal to temporarily remove excise tax from fuel products and give subsidies to public utility vehicles (PUV) drivers will reduce the impact of the rising oil pump prices.

Concepcion admitted that workers may need an additional pay hike.

"I think the business organizations will have to discuss this. So, we have to compute what is the effective increase on the average worker," Concepcion said in a television interview Monday.

"If we increase the wage, we could no longer change it back (to its previous rate). So, I think, the government and the private sector must have more discussion here," he added.

The regional tripartite wage board in NCR is to review its existing minimum wage petition on March 22. DMS