Workers in Calabarzon, Davao regions to get wage hike

FILE: Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III during a press conference on Thursday (Sept. 27, 2018), which is held at the DOLE main office in Intramuros, Manila.(PNA photo by Gil Calinga)

MANILA – Minimum wage earners in Region 4-A (Calabarzon) and Davao Region (Region XI) are set to benefit from the series of pay hikes after the regional wage boards granted an increase in their respective minimum salaries.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Saturday announced that private sector workers in Calabarzon will receive an additional PHP47 to PHP92 in their salary.

The workers in Davao region, on the other hand, will get an additional PHP47.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Region 4-A unanimously approved Wage Order RBIVA-19, setting the new minimum wage in the non-agriculture sector to PHP470 in the extended metropolitan area and the cities of Antipolo and Dasmariñas.

A total of PHP429 will be received by workers in component cities and (first class) municipalities; and PHP390 in the emerging growth area (second and third class municipalities) and resource-based area (fourth, fifth, and sixth class municipalities).

The new minimum wage rates in the agriculture sector, meanwhile, are PHP429 in the extended metropolitan area, in the cities of Antipolo and Dasmariñas, and component cities and (first class) municipalities; PHP390 in the emerging growth area (second and third class municipalities); and PHP350 in the resource-based area (fourth, fifth, and sixth class municipalities).

The new minimum wage in retail and service establishments employing not more than 10 workers is set at PHP350 or an increase of PHP47 from the previous PHP303.

The wage increases shall be given in two tranches. Workers will benefit from the number of increases upon effectivity of the new wage order and six months thereafter, the wage board said.

Bello said the RTWPB cited restoration of the purchasing power of workers, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the competitiveness of wage levels between and across contiguous similarly situated regions, the simplification of the prevailing wage structure, and the need to promote industry dispersal as among the parameters in approving the new wage order in the region.

There are about 1.8 million workers in Region 4-A.

Meanwhile, the RTWPB in Davao Region issued Wage Order No. RBXI-21 which grants a wage increase of PHP47 for workers in agriculture, non-agriculture (industrial/commercial and retail/service establishments employing more than 10 workers), and retail/service establishments employing not more than 10 workers.

The pay hike will be implemented in two tranches — PHP31 upon its effectivity and another PHP16 effective January 1, 2023.

Another PHP15 shall be granted to workers in the retail/service establishments employing not more than 10 workers effective April 1, 2023.

After the full implementation of the wage tranches, the daily minimum wage rates in Davao region will increase from PHP391 to PHP438 in the agriculture sector, from PHP396 to PHP443 in the non-agriculture sector, and from PHP381 to PHP443 for retail/service establishments employing not more than 10 workers.

The Board also issued RBXI-DW-02 setting the new monthly wage rate for domestic workers to PHP4,500 or a monthly wage increase of PHP1,500, and PHP2,500 for chartered cities and first-class municipalities and other municipalities.

“Around 154,763 workers in private establishments and 64,111 domestic workers in Davao region are expected to benefit from the minimum wage increases,” Bello said, adding that the previous wage order for workers in private establishments took effect on August 16, 2018, while that for domestic workers took effect on December 16, 2017.

The issued wage orders were submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission for review and affirmation and shall take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the region.