DOLE: Minimum wage hike in Mimaropa, SOCCSKSARGEN approved

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Saturday that its attached agency has given the thumbs up for increases in the daily minimum pay of workers based in Mimaropa (Region 10) and SOCCSKSARGEN (Region 12). 

In a statement, DOLE said the National Wages Productivity Commission (NWPC) met on Friday and "reviewed and affirmed" the wage hikes for the two regions through the issuance of various wage orders.

In Mimaropa, workers in private establishments are expected to get P35 more in their daily wages, based on Wage Order No. RB-MIMAROPA-10.

This brings up the new minimum wage rate to P329 for those working in establishments which have less than ten employees; and P355 for those working in companies with ten or more employees. 

Domestic workers in the region are also set to get a monthly increase of P1,000, raising their monthly wage rate to P4,500, according to Wage Order No. RB-MIMAROPA-DW-03.

Meanwhile, private workers based in SOCCSKSARGEN will receive their wage increase of P32 in two tranches- P16 upon the effectivity of the wage order and P16 on September 1. This is based on Wage Order No. RBXII-22.

This brings up the new minimum wage rate to P368 for the non-agriculture sector and P347 for agriculture, service and retail establishments.

The NWPC also said that it affirmed a wage increase for domestic workers in Cagayan Valley (Region 2), who will soon get P1,000 more every month. Their updated monthly minimum wage rate will be P5,000 from P4,000. 

Last week, DOLE hiked the current daily pay of workers in Metro Manila by P33, bringing up the minimum wage rate to P570 and P533 for workers in the non-agriculture and agriculture sectors, respectively.

The move came four years after DOLE last decided to increase the current pay of workers in the capital by P25. — Angelica Y. Yang with a report from Xave Gregorio