MANILA, Philippines — Minimum wage earners outside the National Capital Region are likely to get an increase of their daily wage within this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
The NCR saw a P35 wage increase in July after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Metro Manila signed Wage Order No. NCR—25 increasing the minimum wage to P645 from P610.
Aside from NCR, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that the Calabarzon region is next to release a wage order increasing the daily minimum wage.
Laguesma said that other regions have also begun their process for the increased wage amount.
Regions II, III, VII, and XII started their process in August while region I, VI, and IX will also conduct their review and consultations.
“In October, the regions that will carry out consultations and compliance with the directive of our President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. are the CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), Region IV-B (MIMAROPA), and Regions V and VIII,” Laguesma said in Filipino.
And the last ones, in November, will be Regions X and XIII. So, in summary, all the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards will take the necessary action this year regarding the adjustment of the prevailing minimum wage level in their respective regions.
Despite this, labor groups decried the minimum wage increase saying it’s a “big insult” to the workers adding that the P35 wage increase in the NCR is “worse than loose change.”
“Ang panawagan ng mga manggagawa ay nakabubuhay na sahod, pero ang ibibigay satin ay masahol pa sa barya,” KMU Secretary-General Jerome Adonis told reporters in July.
