Soccsksargen workers to get P25 daily pay hike in two installments

COTABATO CITY – Private sector workers in the South Cotabato, Cotabato City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City (Soccsksargen) region will soon get a P25 increase in their daily wage, a labor official in the region said.

Sisinio Cano, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), however, said the wage increase unanimously approved by the Regional Wages and Productivity Board last  Dec. 16 would be given to workers in two tranches—the first tranche of P15 immediately after the order takes effect and the second tranche of P10 to take effect on May 1.

The wage board said it raised wage levels “motu propio” after computing what workers needed to cope with rising cost of living. The last wage increase in the region was May 2018.

Workers in non-agriculture sector in the region shall already be paid

P326 (daily) when the order takes effect, Cano said. It would increase to P336 daily on May 1. Workers in retail and services sector will get P305 daily upon the order’s effectivity and P315 daily on May 1.

Jessie dela Cruz, wage board secretary, said Cotabato City is no longer covered by the wage order after the city became part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Cano said the new wage order was submitted to the National Wagesand Productivity Commission for review and affirmation before its publication.

The last wage order issued on May 2018 placed the minimum daily wage rate for non-agriculture workers in the region at P311 and for agriculture, retail and service workers at P290.

Edited by TSB