MINIMUM wage earners in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Caraga regions will soon get higher pay after their respective Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) issued wage orders increasing their respective minimum wage.
The latest development on wage increase was announced by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, even as he also thanked the three region’s wage boards for heeding his call to expedite the review of their current minimum wage and for taking the extra mile in resolving with dispatch the petitions for wage adjustments in their jurisdictions.
The new minimum wage in the National Capital Region and Western Visayas, meanwhile, will take effect on June 3 after their separate wage orders were affirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission on Tuesday. Bello chairs the commission.
The RTWPB I unanimously issued Wage Order No. RB1-21 on May 16, providing wage increases ranging from P60 to P90 in two to three tranches. After full implementation of the tranches, the minimum wage rate in the region will range from P372 to P400 from P282 to P340 under the previous Wage Order.
The Board also unanimously issued Wage Order No. RB1-DW-03 granting P500 and P1,500 monthly wage increases for domestic workers in cities and first-class municipalities and for other municipalities, respectively, bringing the new monthly wage rate to P5,000.
Meanwhile, RTWPB II unanimously issued Wage Order No. RTWPB-02-21 on May 17, granting wage increases ranging from P50 to P75 in two to three tranches. After full implementation of the tranches, the minimum wage rate in the region will range from P400 to P420 from P345 to P370 in the previous Wage Order.
Lastly, RTWPB XIII issued Wage Order No. RXIII-17 also on May 17, which integrated the P15 COLA to the P305 basic salary under the previous Wage Order and granted a P30-wage increase bringing the new daily minimum wage rate in the region to P350.
The new daily minimum wage rate of P350 shall take effect upon the effectivity of the Wage Order for private establishments and their workers in Butuan City and the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Surigao del Sur.
However, for private establishments and their workers in the provinces of Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte, including Siargao Islands, the wage increase of P20 shall take effect upon the effectivity of the Wage Order and another P10 shall take effect on September 1, 2022.
The new Wage Orders will be submitted to the NWPC for review and shall take effect fifteen days after publication in a newspaper of regional circulation.
Under the Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination, however, retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than ten workers and establishments affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters, including the pandemic, may apply for exemption from compliance with the issued Wage Orders.
