TACLOBAN CITY — The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board on Thursday announced that it has approved a P30 increase in daily wages of minimum wage earners in Eastern Visayas effective 30 November.

Its board also granted a P500 pay hike in the monthly wages of kasambahays or domestic workers hired by households.

The new wage order — which takes effect 15 days after publication in a local newspaper — sets the new minimum daily wage in Eastern Visayas to P405 for non-agriculture and retail service employing 11 workers and above.

Employees of agriculture, retail services with 10 workers or less and those in cottage and handicraft sectors will have a minimum wage of P375.

Domestic workers — which include yaya, cook, gardener, labandera and others who are performing regular domestic work — will have a minimum wage of P5,500 if they are in chartered cities and first-class municipalities, or P5,000 monthly for other municipalities.

The new wage increase is expected to benefit over 80,000 minimum wage earners and domestic workers in Eastern Visayas.

This comes after a series of consultations and public hearings involving different sectors including employees, employers' groups, industry leaders and local government officials.

RTWPB Eastern Visayas chair Henry John Jalbuena said that no wage hike petitions were filed in the region but the board initiated the wage review considering the existing economic indicators, the increasing needs of the workers and their families as well as the capacity of the employers to pay.