Secretary of Labor and Employment Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz has announced that the Regional Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Region 2 had agreed to issue a new wage order granting a daily pay hike to minimum wage earners in the private sector in the region, bringing to five the total number of regional wage boards that had approved wage orders this year.
“The RTWPB in Cagayan Valley, determined to provide workers with immediate relief without impairing business viability, has approved on 20 April 2012 Wage Order No. RTWPB II-15 granting a P10 basic wage increase and the integration of the P15 Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) under Wage Order No. RTWPB II-14 into the basic wage. This brings the minimum wage in the region to a range of between P212 and P255,” said Baldoz in a news release.
She said the amount of wage increase was agreed upon unanimously by the wage board whose membership is composed of representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry, National Economic and Development Authority, and labor and employers groups.
Upon the effectivity of the order, minimum wage earners in Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and Batanes will get an increase of P10.00 in their daily basic pay, while the P15.00 COLA will be integrated into their basic pay.
The labor chief added that the new wage order came after the board, ‘motu proprio’, or even without petition, conducted public hearings and consultations on wages due to increases in the prices of oil and fuel products, transportation fares, and basic commodities in the region.
DOLE Region 2 regional director and RTWPB chairman Sixto Rodriguez said the wage board determined that the wage increase would not impair the viability of business in the region.
The daily wage increase covers all sectors from agricultural plantation to non-plantation workers and will take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Baldoz said that earlier, four regional wage boards have issued their respective wage orders.
On February 24, RTWPB V issued Wage Order No. 15 granting a P3 to P23 basic wage increase, bringing the new minimum wage rates in the Bicol region to a range of P228 to P252 effective April 7, 2012.
RTWPB XII has also approved Wage Order No. 17 on March 26, granting a P10 to P14 COLA. The increases shall be given in two tranches, with the first tranche taking effect on April 18, and the second tranche becoming effective on December 1, 2012.
“This will bring the new minimum wage in Region 12 to a range of P246 to P270,” Baldoz said.
The regional wage board in Western Visayas (Region 6) has likewise decided on a new minimum wage rates. It issued Wage Order No. 20 on March 26 granting a basic wage increase of P12, thus bringing the new minimum wage to a range of P235 to P277. These adjustments will become effective 15 days after publication of the wage order in a newspaper of general circulation.
On March 28, RTWPB IV-A decided to grant a P2 to P90 adjustment to workers in the CALABARZON region receiving minimum wages below P255 and a productivity allowance of P12.50 for workers receiving minimum wages above P255 up to P337. The adjustment will be done in tranches over a five-year period.
In the National Capital Region, Secretary Baldoz said the RTWPB is currently conducting a series of consultations and assessing the economic conditions in the region as bases for a wage decision after the anniversary date of its current wage order, which is on May 26. It will hold its second public consultation on April 27 at the Universidad de Manila in Escolta, Manila.
“The rest of the Boards are closely monitoring the socio-economic conditions in their respective regions as current wage orders approach their anniversary dates this year,” she said.
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