CNN Philippines (March 6) – A wage increase awaits minimum wage earners in Cagayan Valley and Bicol Region this year.
Department of Labor and Employment Regional Director Joel Gonzales announced that per DOLE Wage Order No. 20, workers in Bicol will receive a P25-peso raise in their daily salary, setting the minimum wage to P335 from P310.
The increase will be divided into two tranches. They will get an additional 10 pesos in the first tranche, and a P15-peso increase in the second tranche starting July 1. Authorities have yet to determine when the first hike will be given. The regional director said it will take effect 15 days after the wage order is published in newspapers of general circulation, and they have not sought for the National Wages Productivity Commission’s permission to publish. NWPC is a key policy making body on wages, incomes and productivity in the country.
Meanwhile, the NWPC has also approved to raise the wages of the workers employed in the private sector in Cagayan Valley.
The board set the basic wage of employees in the retail or service establishments with more than 10 workers to P370 from P360. Workers in agriculture sector, who currently get P340 daily, will get an increase of P5. They will receive their new minimum wage rates starting March 16. On the other hand, those in retail or service businesses with 10 workers and below stand to get P25-raise, which will be received in two installments – on March 16 and July 1.
Household service workers will also get a P1,000 increase in their monthly salary.
Excluded from the hike were domestic workers or “persons in the personal service of another” and people working for registered Barangay Micro-Business enterprises, the NWPC said.
CNN Philippines’ Rosas Olarte contributed to this report
