MANILA, Philippines — Minimum wage earners in Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon as well as Soccsksargen in Mindanao will receive a higher take-home pay after the regional wage boards approved their petitions for a salary increase, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.
The DOLE yesterday said the National Wages and Productivity Commission affirmed the newly approved wage orders granting the pay hike effective Oct. 17.
In Cagayan Valley, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) granted an increase of P30 in the daily minimum wage across all sectors.
The wage order brings to P480 and P460 the daily minimum wage for workers in the non-agriculture and agriculture sectors, respectively.
The wage board approved an increase of P500 in the monthly salary of household service workers or kasambahay in Cagayan Valley.
It recommended a minimum of P6,000 as monthly salary for these workers.
The wage increase in Cagayan Valley is expected to benefit 49,165 domestic workers, 15 percent of whom are living with their employers while the rest are on a live-out arrangement.
The RTWPB in Central Luzon simplified the wage structure in the industry classification for non-agriculture, agriculture, and retail and service sectors as it granted workers a pay hike ranging from P50 to P66 per day.
The salary increase brought the daily minimum wage rates in Central Luzon from P500 to P550 in the non-agriculture sector, P488 to P520 in the agriculture and P435 to 540 in retail and service establishments, upon full implementation of all tranches next year.
Workers in Soccsksargen will receive a pay increase between P27 and P48, which brings the daily minimum wage to P430 in the non-agriculture as well as in retail and service sectors, and P410 in the agriculture sector upon full implementation in June 2025.
The DOLE said the new wage rates for workers in private establishments in three regions translate to about seven to 15 percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage.
The wage orders are expected to directly benefit 905,000 minimum wage earners and about 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum rate.