Regional wage boards urged to follow NCR

CEBU, Philippines — The 16 regional wage boards in the country should take the cue from Metro Manila where workers receiving a daily minimum wage recently got an additional P35 pay hike to soften the impact of recurring inflation.

“We are counting on all regional wage boards outside of Metro Manila to quickly figure out the pay increases needed to help workers recover the purchasing power that they’ve lost on account of the spiraling prices of basic commodities,” House Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan said.

The congressman from 4Ps party-list said all these regional wage boards outside of the National Capital Region should now be moving fast in giving private sector workers “immediate relief from the soaring cost of living.”

“Under the Labor Code, all regional wage boards are empowered to review and raise the take-home pay of workers even in the absence of any petition for an increase,” Libanan, a former congressman from eastern Samar, pointed out.

In a Pulse Asia Research Inc. report released over the weekend, adult Filipinos aged 18 years old and above cited “increasing the pay of workers” as their second most urgent concern, after “controlling inflation.”

“Reducing poverty, creating more jobs, and fighting graft and corruption in government” were also among the top five most urgent issues cited by Filipinos in the June 2024 Survey on National Concerns and the President’s State of the Nation Address.

Earlier, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Metro Manila approved a P35 increase in the daily minimum wage rate of non-farm workers – from P610 to P645 – effective July 16.

Meanwhile, a senior administration lawmaker said the decision to increase by P35 the minimum wage for workers in the NCR is very timely as this will also “provide much-needed relief” amid the high cost of living in the capital.

“This wage hike is very timely. This will provide much-needed and immediate relief to our minimum wage workers in the metropolis,” Rep. Fidel Nograles, chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on labor and employment said of the new P610 daily minimum wage.

The fourth district congressman from Rizal province also assured workers across the country that despite the wage hike, Congress will still continue to deliberate on various bills proposing increases ranging from P150-P350.

“We will continue deliberating on these measures providing wage increase. Our main objective is to reach a good compromise where the needs of workers are addressed that will not also result in the bankruptcy of employers,” Nograles said.

He also reiterated the importance of other measures that would lower the cost of living. “Wage increase is not the only solution to this recurring problem. We also need to implement sustainable measures in agriculture, transport, energy, education, and health.”

‘The government’s target is to lower inflation and make prices of all commodities, especially the basic ones, affordable to everybody regardless of their status in life so that they will live healthy, have stable jobs that can provide for the needs of their families,” Nograles said. (CEBU NEWS)