ILOILO City – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas issued an order increasing the daily minimum wage of private workers for non-agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors; and for the agricultural sector.
But this has to be approved by the National Wages and Productivity Commission first, according to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional director Atty. Sixto Rodriguez Jr.
Wage Order No. RBVI-26 set the following rates:
For Non-agricultural/Industrial/Commercial
a. those employing more than 10 workers – from P395 minimum wage per day to P450 minimum wage per day (P55 increase)
b. those employing 10 workers or less – from P310 minimum wage per day to P420 minimum wage per day (P110 increase)
For Agricultural
a. P410 minimum wage per day from P315 minimum (P95 increase)
Rodriguez expressed confidence that the NWPC would approve the wage order next week.
RTWPB Region 6 is the first region to release a new wage order this year, according to Rodriguez.
The “original demand” was P750 but during the public consultations, the rate agreed upon was between P400 to P550. The wage hike petition was filed by Bacolod City-based Fishta Union of Employees for Reforms Through Solidarity Actions (FUERSA-Super).
At first glance, added Rodriguez, the increase seemed high. But he stressed that the RTWPB had not issued a wage order for the past two to three years.
The last wage order was issued last November 2019 yet (Wage Order No. 25).
According to Rodriguez, RTWPB planned to issue a wage order in 2021 but the pandemic struck.
The new wage increase covers the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental, including their component cities and the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
However, Rodriguez said, DOLE Region 6 will accept petitions for exemption from the wage hike such as from distressed establishments, new business enterprises and those affected by calamities natural and/or human induced./PN
