MANILA – The government has approved a P25 increase in the daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region.
Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III told a news conference Monday that the new daily minimum wage of up to P537 will take effect 15 days after it is published in newspapers of national circulation.
The approved daily wage hike was much lower than the P334 proposed by petitioners but a bit higher than the P20 offer made by the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines.
“Upon effectivity of Wage Order No. NCR-22, the new minimum wage rate in Metro Manila shall be P500 to P537 across different sectors,” said Bello, noting that the actual basic wage now is P502 plus the P10 Cost of Living Allowance, or COLA.
The capability of employers to implement the adjustment and the needs of workers were factored in the approved increase, Bello said.
Malacañang, for its part, is leaving the decision to wage board.
“There has been a deliberation [by the] wage board and apparently that’s the decision. So let’s see,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told a news conference Monday.
Asked if, in his opinion, the increase was enough for the workers’ needs, Panelo said: “Perhaps. Presently that’s what they found out that’s enough. I guess it’s always subject to change depending on the economic conditions.”
He assured that interests of the labor sector and the employers are taken into consideration in deliberations on wage increase petitions.
“The Palace assures everyone that the interests and well-being of both sides, management and labor, as well as the overall impact to our domestic economy would be considered by the government in attending to this matter,” he added.
Labor groups have pressed for a P335 increase in the daily minimum wage of private workers in Metro Manila to help them cope with the rising consumer prices.
But employers repeatedly warned that such proposal might hit businesses and scare away investors./P
