The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) has approved a raise of P30 to P35 in the daily minimum pay of workers in the Ilocos and Western Visayas regions, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Wage earners in the non-agriculture sector in Western Visayas will get not less than P480 a day, while their counterparts in bigger companies with more than 10 workers will receive P450 per day.
On the other hand, workers in outfits classified as agricultural will get a bit less at P440 daily.
In a statement, DOLE said the wage increase—P35 in Ilocos Region and
P30 in Western Visayas will benefit a total of 287,683 minimum wage workers in the private sector in the two regions.
The DOLE also said some 677,626 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit from upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from corrections of certain distortions in the wage system.
In the Ilocos region, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) also issued a wage order for domestic helpers commonly called “kasambahay.”The hikes were expected to benefit a total of 259,820 domestic workers
—approximately 23 percent (58,517) of whom are on live-in arrangements, and 77 percent (201,303) live-out.
The order raises the monthly minimum salary for kasambahay to P5,500,
up by P500 from the previous level of P5,000.
The increase brought to P435 the daily minimum pay in non-agricultural establishments with 10 or more workers, and P402 for non-agricultural companies with less than 10 workers, as well as agricultural workers in the Ilocos region.
“The RTWPBs shall undertake information campaigns to ensure compliance and to provide assistance to enterprises in correcting possible wage distortions,” the DOLE statement read.
The wage orders were i sued on October 21 and will take effect after 15 days, specifically on November 6.
The regional wage board also granted a P35 to P50 minimum wage hike in Calabarzon.
Ilocos region covers the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan.
Western Visayas consisted of the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental.
Meanwhile, militant workers’ groups, inotably members of the coalesced All Philippine Trade Unions, have been calling for a national minimum wage, saying prices are high across the country and regional wages have not helped
them make ends meet.
Some groups have called for a nationwide minimum wage of P750, but the Employers Confederation of the Philippines rejected the amount outright as
“problematic and unrealistic.”