MANILA - Kabataan Party List Representative Raoul Manuel dared the officials of the Department of Trade and Industry, and members of the Marcos Jr. administration to live on minimum wage for a month, after Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual issued a statement last week on the sufficiency of the existing minimum wage for a family of five.

During on Thursday’s House Committee on Appropriations hearing on DTI’s proposed 2024 budget, Manuel said that the trade chief’s statements appear to be “detached from reality”.

This observation did not sit well with Pascual. He clarified that minimum wage should be studied by experts, but the DTI is working hard to help improve industries so that more Filipinos will have the opportunity to get better paying jobs.