Cagayan workers to get P25 more in daily wages

TUGUEGARAO CITY—Private sector employees in Cagayan Valley will receive a P10 increase in their daily wage on top of a P15 cost of living allowance prescribed in an earlier wage order.

Sixto Rodriguez, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said the increase took effect on May 16 after the publication of the wage order in a local newspaper.

“So, in effect, minimum wage earners get P25 per day increase,” he said.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board’s (RTWPB) new wage order, which was approved on April 20, set the minimum wages for every sector and industry in the region’s five provinces.

The order said private workers in nonagriculture establishments in Cagayan would receive P252 a day, P240 in the agriculture sector, P244 in retail/services with a work force of more than 10 workers and P217 for establishments with less than 10 employees.

In Isabela, the regional wage board set P255 as daily wage in the nonagriculture sector, P243 in the agriculture sector, P247 for retail/service workers of establishments with more than 10 employees and P220 for workers in establishments with not more than 10 employees.

In Nueva Vizcaya, nonagriculture sector workers will receive at least P248 a day, P236 in the agriculture sector and P240 and P213 in retail/service workers in establishments listed by the labor department.

For Quirino and Batanes workers, the wage board approved a daily minimum wage rate of P247 for workers in the nonagriculture sector, P235 in the agriculture sector, and P239 and P212 in the retail/service sector.

“The wage hike is the biggest so far in the history of Cagayan Valley and the fastest to be decided,” Rodriguez said.

He said complaints on noncompliance with the wage order should be filed with the labor department and employers violating the order would be held liable for violation of the Labor Code.

Militants are not expected to be satisfied with the wage orders as they continue to demand a P125 legislated increase in wages.

President Benigno Aquino III, however, rejected a legislated wage increase and salary increases beyond that which are approved by wage boards.

Mr. Aquino said the economy would be in more trouble if wages were increased to levels beyond the reach of employers.

The President virtually echoed the sentiment of the business sector which had been consistent in its position that wage increases would have grave effects on prices of basic commodities and result in more hardship for the poor.

Labor officials, however, said they have been investigating the practice of some companies to prevent the regularization of their workers by resorting to contractual policies.

Under this practice, workers are given contracts of only up to five months to prevent them from being regularized. Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon