Metro workers get P50 pay hike

MANILA, Philippines — More than one million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila are getting an increase of P50 in their daily take home pay, the Department of Labor and Employment announced yesterday.

DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved the pay hike.

Laguesma said the increase – the highest ever granted by the RTWPB – will raise the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila to P695 from P645 for the non-agriculture sector, and from P608 to P658 for the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments employing up to 15 workers, as well as manufacturing establishments employing less than 10.

The pay hike will take effect on July 18, a day after the anniversary date of the last minimum wage increase in the National Capital Region.

According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), the P50 increase is equivalent to P1,100 per month for a five-day work week and P1,300 for six days of work.

Under the new rate, the NWPC said non-agriculture workers would get a monthly pay of P18,216, inclusive of the mandatory benefits such as 13th month pay, incentive leaves, SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.

Laguesma said between 2023 and 2025, the daily minimum wage rate for private sector workers in Metro Manila had increased by P125.

The DOLE will undertake a massive information campaign to ensure public awareness and monitor the compliance of companies with the wage order through labor inspections, he said.

The NPWC said around 1.7 million workers earning above the minimum pay may also indirectly benefit from the pay adjustment amid the correction of wage distortions.

Retail and service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers, and enterprises affected by natural calamities or human-induced disasters may apply for exemption from the wage increase.

Registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises or BMBEs are not covered by the minimum wage law.

Labor groups denounced the P50 wage hike,  saying it is “the biggest alms given to workers amid the rising cost of living in Metro Manila.”