THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) yesterday announced motu proprio orders granting increases in daily minimum wages in private establishments in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Soccksargen effective October 17 this year.
The minimum wage increase in these regions was an offshoot of the directive issued by President Marcos Jr. on Labor Day for the “timely review of minimum wages.”
The last wage orders for workers in the private sector and domestic workers in these regions became effective on October 16, 2023.
“The adjustments, which vary per region, were reached through a collaborative consensus and unanimously approved by the members of the respective RWTPDs,” the Department of Labor said in a statement.
In Cagayan Valley, the RTWPB-II granted a P30 daily minimum wage increase across all sectors — from P450 to P480 for the non-agricultural sector and from P430 to P460 for the agricultural sector.
The RTWPB-II said that “kasambahays” or househelps in all the cities and municipalities of Cagayan Valley region will receive a P500 monthly increase, which will raise their wage to P6,000 a month.
In Central Luzon, the RTWPB-III simplified its wage structure to the main sector/industry classifications of non-agriculture, agriculture, and retail and service in the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales.
For non-agriculture establishments with 10 or more workers, the RTWPB-III said the monthly minimum wage increase will be P25 upon the effectivity of the order — from the present P500 a day to P525. In addition, a P25 daily increase will be in effect on April 16, 2025, which will raise the minimum monthly wage to P550.
Establishments with fewer than 10 workers were ordered to increase wages by P32. From P493, the new daily minimum wage will be P525.
Plantation workers will get a P25 daily increase upon the effectivity of the order on October 17, and another P25 daily increase on April 16 next year. The present daily minimum wage for plantation workers stands at P470.
Workers in the retail/service establishments with more than 10 workers will receive an additional P26 a day upon the effectivity of the order, and another P25 a day on April 16 next year. The present daily minimum wage for this sector stands at P489.
Retail/service establishments with fewer than 10 workers will increase by P40 the daily wages of their workers — from P475 to P515 a day.
In Aurora province, which is also under the Central Luzon region, non-agriculture establishments will increase by P26 their workers’ daily wage on October 17, and by P25 daily on April 16 next year. From P449 a day, the workers’ wages will be P500 a day by April 16.
Plantation workers will also get an increase of P26 and P25, respectively —from the present P434 to P485 by April 16 next year.
Non-plantation workers will be given a P38 daily increase to their P434 daily minimum wage while the retail/service sector will also increase their workers’ wages by P26 and P25, respectively — from P384 a day to P435 a day by April 16, 2025.
In Soccksargen, non-agriculture workers’ wages of P403 a day will be P417, an increase of P14 a day. An additional P13 a day will take effect on January 1 next year, which will bring their wages to P430.
The P382 minimum daily wage of workers in the retail/service sectors will be P396 by October 17 due to the additional P14 a day. Their wages will be increased by P14 effective January 1, 2025, P10 on April 1, and another P10 on June 1, which will bring to P430 their daily minimum wage by June next year.
Agriculture workers in the SOCCKSARGEN region will have two P14-a-day increases — one on October 17 and another on January 1. From the present wage of P382, their income per day will be P410 effective on the first day of 2025.
The RTWPB said the new rates for workers in private establishments translate to around a 7 percent to 15 percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in these regions and result in a comparable 7 percent to 12 percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th-month pay, pay incentive leave, and social security benefits such as SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG.
“The wage orders are expected to directly benefit a total of 905,000 minimum wage earners in these regions and about 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also directly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion,” the DOLE said.
