An estimated 100,414 minimum wage earners in Bicol Region are expected to receive a P40 daily wage increase, after the National Wages and Productivity Commission affirmed the wage orders approved by their respective Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards on 14 March.

This raises the daily minimum wage rate in the Bicol Region from P395 to P435 for all sectors and industries. The P40 daily wage hike will take effect beginning 5 April.

About 316,784 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit from upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion.

Retail and service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers, and enterprises affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters may apply for exemption from the wage increase as provided for in the Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination, as amended.

Registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) are not covered by the minimum wage law under Republic Act 9178 or the BMBEs Act of 2002.

Meanwhile, 113,026 domestic workers in the Bicol Region and Zamboanga Peninsula are also slated to receive a monthly wage hike of between P900 and P1,000.

Upon the implementation, the new monthly minimum wage for domestic workers in the region shall be P6,000. It will take effect on 3 April.