Calabarzon, Central Visayas workers get minimum wage hikes

The Regional Wages Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RWTWPB) IV-A and VII approved minimum wage hikes for workers in Calabarzon and Central Visayas, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced Monday.

Beginning 30 September, workers in private establishments in Calabarzon will get an adjusment rate ranging from P21 to P75 per day.

This brings the daily minimum wages to P450 to P560 in the non-agriculture sector; P425 to P500 in the agriculture sector; and P425 in retail and service establishments employing not more than 10 workers upon full implementation of all tranches.

Meanwhile, in Central Visayas, private establishment workers are set to receive a P33 to P43 per day increase.

RTWPB-VII kept its area-based classifications of Classes A, B, and C, but each class now has a single wage rate for both agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.

Class A is comprised of cities of Carcar, Cebu, Danao, Lapulapu, Mandaue, Naga, Talisay, and municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, and San Fernando or Expanded Metro Cebu.

Class B includes Bais, Bayawan, Bogo, Canlaon, Dumaguete, Guihulngan, Tagbilaran, Tanjay, and Toledo.

Other municipalities and cities not covered by Class A and B fall under Class C.

The increase brings the daily minimum wages from P458 to P468 to P501 for Class A; P425 to P430 to P463 for Class B; and P415 to P420 to P453 for Class C.

Both adjustments were reached through consensus and unanimously approved by the government, labor and employer representatives in both RTWPBS, and have, likewise, been unanimously affirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

The new rates for workers in private establishments translate to about seven to eight percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the two regions and result in a comparable 11 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, service incentive leave, and social security benefits, such as Social Secueity System, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG Fund.

The wage orders are expected to directly benefit a total of 1.2 million minimum wage earners in Calabarzon and Central Visayas.

The wage orders were issued following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Labor Day directive to the RTWPBs to review regional minimum wage rates prior to the anniversary dates of previous wage increases.

The last wage orders for workers in private establishments in Calabarzon and Central Visayas became effective on 24 September 2023 and 1 October 2023, respectively.