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MANILA, Philippines — The wage board in Metro Manila has approved a P40 minimum wage increase for workers in private establishments, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Thursday.
In a statement, DOLE said the wage hike will be implemented through a wage order issued by Metro Manila’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board on Monday, June 26.
“lt provides an increase of P40, bringing the daily minimum wage in the region from P570 to P610 for the non-agriculture sector and from P533 to P573 for the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments employing 15 or less workers, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers,” DOLE said.
The labor department said the wage order was affirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission on Tuesday, June 27.
The NWPC also authorized the publication of the wage order in major newspapers on Friday, June 30. It will take effect on Sunday, July 16.
“The wage order is expected to directly benefit 1.1 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
“About 1.5 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion,” DOLE said.
The last wage order for workers in Metro Manila private establishments took effect more than a year ago.
Not enough
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan President Renato Reyes said the wage hike was still small when weighed against the average family living wage.
“Ang liit ng dagdag sahod na P40. Ang family living wage ay P1,100. Kapag dinagdag ang P40, nasa P610 lang ang NCR wage, o kalahati lang ng nakabubuhay na sahod,” he said in a social media post.
(The P40 wage hike is still small. The family living wage is P1,100. When you add P40, the NCR wage will be at P610, or only half of the living wage.)
He pointed out that the P40 wage hike is a far cry from the Senate proposal to increase the minimum wage in the private sector by P150.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is among the main proponents of the Across the Board Wage Increase bill in the upper chamber, also deemed this development insufficient.
“That’s a wonderful development for our workers, although it’s not enough,” he said in a message.