Region 11 workers get P10 COLA hike

DAVAO CITY – Workers in Southern Mindanao (Region 11) will receive starting next month a P10 increase in their cost of living allowance (COLA) as part of the wage adjustment granted by the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board.

Ponciano Ligutom, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment, said the P10 COLA increase is provided under RTWPB XI Wage Order No. 14 that the board approved Tuesday.

He said the board agreed to the P10 COLA increase after seriously considering inflation rate, consumer price index, employer compliance rates, retrenchment records, and other economic indicators and variables.

But Ligutom said the new wage order was a moto propio decision of the board and not based on the P75 wage increase sought by labor groups.

“We came up with the wage adjustment on our own and we did not base it on any petition,” he said. “The figure was the one acceptable to all parties that would satisfy the interest of the workers and employers and the need to promote employment,” he said.

Ligutom said the board saw the need for the P10 COLA hike after holding public hearings in the cities of Tagum, Digos and Davao last July and another series of consultations with industry leaders in executive sessions.

The P10 COLA increase now brings the minimum wage in cities in Region 11 like Davao, Tagum, Digos, Panabo and Samal to P250 for non-agricultural workers and P240 for agricultural workers.

For non-agricultural workers in rural areas, the minimum wage is pegged at P248, while agricultural workers get P238.

The new wage order will take effect by mid-September after the board has complied with the requirements, including its publication in local papers.