P20 COLA hike takes effect today

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Manila workers will receive an additional P20 in their daily cost of living allowance (COLA) on their next payday, as the first tranche of Wage Order 17 takes effect today.

The order, issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board for National Capital Region, also provides for the next tranche of the COLA adjustment of P10 for minimum wage earners in November.

According to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, the adjustment was based on the consultations held by the board with representatives from the government and employers’ and workers’ groups.

The board took into consideration the inflation rate, poverty threshold and increases in tuition in imposing the COLA hike.

Aside from the mandated increase for entry-level earners, employers will also have to adjust the salary of non-mininum wage earners to prevent salary “distortion,” Baldoz said.

“They have to adjust their pay structures... It should be part of a company’s wage and compensation policy,” she said in an earlier interview.

With Wage Order 17, the minimum daily wage rate for Metro Manila workers shall reach P456.

Meanwhile, the National Wages and Productivity Commission is set to decide this week on the motion for reconsideration filed by the Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) to withdraw the implementation of the wage order.

ECOP wants to block the wage adjustment, saying it is too high, while TUCP sought its cancellation because it is too small.