Wage board OKs P25 hike in Northern Mindanao minimum pay

The daily minimum wage of workers in Northern Mindanao would increase by P25 after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board V (RTWPBs) approved labor groups' petitions, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Monday.

In a statement, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the RTWPB in Northern Mindanao issued Wage Order No. RX-21 granting a pay hike in two tranches—P25 upon its effectivity and another P15-P22 on December 16, 2022.

This would bring the minimum wage rate in the Northern Mindanao Region to P405 for non-agriculture sector and P393 for agriculture sector.

Bello said that around 152,924 workers in private establishments and 54,851 domestic workers are expected to benefit from the minimum wage increases in the region.

“The new minimum wage rate in the cities of Oroquieta and Tangub and the municipalities of Laguindingan, Mambajao, Balingasag, and all other areas, including retail and service establishments employing not more than ten workers, are P390 for the non-agriculture sector and P378 for the agriculture sector,”  Bello said.

“The Board also issued RBX-DW-03 granting a monthly wage increase of P500 for domestic workers bringing the new monthly minimum wage rate in the region to P4,500 for cities and first-class municipalities and P3,500 for other municipalities,” he added.

The said wage order shall take effect 15 days after publication. The previous wage order for workers in private establishments took effect on November 1, 2018 while the wage order for domestic workers took effect on January 1, 2020, according to DOLE.

Regional wage boards in the National Capital Region and Western Visayas earlier issued wage increase orders.

For NCR, the minimum wage was increased by P33, while those in Western Visayas would rise by up to P110.

Likewise, the RTWPBs of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Caraga had approved increases in the minimum wages of workers in their respective jurisdictions.

For the Ilocos Region, the DOLE said the RTWPB I issued Wage Order No. RB1-21 on May 16 providing wage increases ranging from P60 to P90 in two to three tranches.

For the Cagayan Valley Region, the RTWPB II issued Wage Order No. RTWPB-02-21 on May 17, “granting wage increases ranging from P50 to P75 in two to three tranches.

For the Caraga Region, the RTWPB XIII issued Wage Order No. RXIII-17 also on May 17, which integrated the P15 COLA or cost of living allowance to the P305 basic salary under the previous Wage Order and granted a P30-wage increase bringing the new daily minimum wage rate in the region to P350.—LDF, GMA News