Baguio, 2 Cordillera areas get P350 wage hike

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The daily minimum wage in Baguio and Tabuk cities and La Trinidad town in Benguet province has been raised to P350 beginning on Nov. 18, according to a wage order issued by the Cordillera Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).

Workers in Ifugao, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra, Mountain Province and other towns in Benguet will get a P340 minimum wage that the RTWPB based on the prevailing poverty threshold.

The threshold is the minimum income required by a family or person to buy basic food and clothes and spend on housing, transportation, health and education, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The Cordillera poverty threshold for the first half of 2018 was P12,352 per capita, which meant that an individual needed a minimum monthly average income of P2,059. A family of five required a minimum monthly income of P10,293 “to be considered not poor.”

The new wage increase does not benefit personal drivers, domestic workers and employees of microenterprises who are covered by other wage laws.

Private schools that have not increased their tuition for school year 2019-2020 may defer compliance with the wage rates until the beginning of next school term, the board said.

Exequiel Guzman, Cordillera director of the Department of Labor and Employment, said the board decided to simplify the wage order for easier implementation.