BACOLOD CITY—The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of Western Visayas has approved an increase of P13.50 to P41.50 in the daily minimum wage of private-sector workers in the region.
The new wage order will take effect in August, according to Regional Director Johnson Cañete of the Department of Labor and Employment 6 (Western Visayas) during a news briefing held at the Sugar Workers Development Center here on Monday afternoon.
Cañete, who also chairs RTWPB 6, said that under Wage Order 24, the wage rates in Western Visayas will now range from P295 to P365, up from the previous P271.50 to P323.50 under Wage Order 23.
The amounts of increase include cost of living allowance (COLA) and depends on the workers’ category.
Nonagriculture, industrial and commercial workers employed by companies with more than 10 people will receive an increase of P26.50 to P41.50, plus P15 COLA, for the present rate of P365, compared to the previous P323.50.
Those working in establishments with less than 10 workers will get an increase of P23.50 to P18.50, plus P5 COLA, for the new rate of P295, higher than the P271.50 earlier.
Agriculture workers, both in plantation and nonplantation categories, will now receive the same rate of P295.
Plantation workers who used to receive P281.50 will get a raise of P8.50 to P13.50, plus P5 COLA, while non-plantation workers who were previously paid P271.50 will receive an increase of P18.50 to P23.50, plus P5 COLA.
Cañete announced the new minimum wage rates after a series of deliberations conducted by the board from June 6 to 8.
The RTWPB 6 received at least nine position papers submitted by various groups during the four public hearings it conducted across the region in recent months.
The hearings were conducted after the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines filed a petition for wage increase in January.
The labor group then sought a P130 to P150 increase, depending on the worker’s classification.
The revised rules on minimum wage issued by the National Wages and Productivity Commission require that a new wage order be issued within 30 days after the last wage hearing.