Boards approve wage hikes in Calabarzon, Central Visayas

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

REGIONAL WAGE BOARDS have approved increases in the daily minimum wages of workers in the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon) provinces and in Central Visayas, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said on Monday.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) of Region 4-A and Region 7 issued wage orders granting hikes ranging from P21 to P75 per day in Calabarzon and from P33 to P43 for workers in Central Visayas, depending on the geographical area and labor sector.

The increases will take effect on Sept. 30 for Calabarzon and Oct. 2 for Central Visayas. Once implemented, the new minimum wage rates in the private sector for Calabarzon will range from P425 to P560, while those for Central Visayas will be from P453 to P501.

“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 (NWPC),” the DoLE said in a statement.

“The new rates for workers in private establishments translate to about a 7%-8% increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the two regions and will result in a comparable 11% increase in wage-related benefits,” it added.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address in July ordered wage boards to review regional minimum wage rates before the anniversaries of previous wage increases. The last wage order for Calabarzon took effect on Sept. 24, 2023, while that for Central Visayas was implemented starting Oct. 1, 2023.

The new wage orders are expected to benefit 1.2 million minimum wage earners in the two regions, the Labor department said.

About 2.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit from upward adjustments to correct wage distortion, it added.

Under the wage order issued by the wage board of Calabarzon, the increases will be given in two tranches in some areas — the first upon the order’s effectivity on Sept. 30, and the second on April 1, 2025.

“RTWPB 4-A re-categorized the grouping of areas on the basis of the income classification of local government units, and simplified the wage structure into the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors and retail establishments employing not more than 10 workers,” the DoLE said.

For nonagriculture workers, the daily minimum wage will increase to P560 for those in the extended metropolitan area, to P520 for those working in first-class municipalities, and to P450 for those in second- and third-class municipalities.

Nonagriculture workers in component cities will receive P520 a day under the first tranche, which will be hiked to P540 under the second tranche. Those in fourth-, fifth- and sixth-class municipalities will get a P420 daily wage by end-September and P450 by April 2025.

For agriculture workers, the daily minimum wage will be P500 for those in the extended metropolitan area and component cities and P425 for those in the second- to sixth-class municipalities.

Meanwhile, workers in the agriculture sector in first-class municipalities will be paid P465 daily under the first tranche of the hike and P500 under the second tranche.

Lastly, the daily wage rate for retail and service establishments employing not more than 10 workers will be P425.

Meanwhile, daily minimum wage rates in Central Visayas are based on area and are the same for both the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.

All workers in the class A geographical area or Expanded Metro Cebu — composed of the cities of Carcar, Cebu, Danao, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Naga and Talisay and the municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla and San Fernando — will now receive P501 daily under the new wage order.

Those in class B or the cities of Bais, Bayawan, Bogo, Canlaon, Dumaguete, Guihulngan, Tagbilaran, Tanjay, and Toledo will see their daily wage rise to P463.

Lastly, those in class C areas, or the municipalities not covered under classes A and B, will be paid P453 a day.

INFLATION IMPACT UNLIKELY
University of the Philippines Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Velasco said the increases in daily minimum wages in the two regions are unlikely to spur inflation.

“The wage orders provide for a ‘modest’ increase in minimum wages. Numerous global studies reveal that moderate wage increases have little to no impact on employment and prices (i.e, not inflationary and do not lead to layoffs),” Mr. Velasco said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

He said the increase could provide relief to workers amid rising prices but reiterated the call of various groups for a legislated wage hike, specifically for a P150 “wage recovery” to “recover lost purchasing power due to inflation.”

The Senate earlier this year passed a bill granting a P100 wage hike, but the House of Representatives has yet to pass a similar measure. Proposals ranging from P100 to P750 remain pending at the House.

Employers Confederation of the Philippines Governor Arturo “Butch” C. Guerrero III said that while some of their members expressed concerns about the new wage orders for the two regions, they prefer RTWPB-mandated wage hikes over legislated increases.

“We want the regional wage board to decide on the increase rather than a legislated wage increase,” Mr. Guerrero told BusinessWorld in a phone call. “They (politicians) just go ahead and vote at the cost of the business and at the cost of the livelihood of the workers. We don’t want that to happen. We’d prefer [that the wage increases] go through regional wage boards.”

For his part, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino President Renecio “Luke” S. Espiritu, Jr. said the notion of “provincial” wage rates should be scrapped to allow all workers to earn equally.

“Calabarzon is highly industrialized — it is the “factory hub” of the Philippines. Central Visayas is also highly commercialized, with lots of malls, hotels, and economic zones there,” he said in Filipino through Facebook Messenger. “Both are similar to the National Capital Region — except that the wages are lower there.”