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COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — For the first time in the region, an order setting the minimum monthly wage rate for “kasambahay” (domestic workers) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at P5,000 has been issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) here.
Minister Muslimin Sema of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, who chairs the RTWPB in the BARMM, said he signed the new wage order, also known as the Wage Order for Domestic Workers, following a meeting of the board on Monday.
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“This is historic and unprecedented,” Sema said, adding that the wage order was the result of a series of consultations with affected sectors across the region and had taken into consideration the economic condition in the Bangsamoro.
He also said the new wage order aimed to give dignity to house helps, considered the trusted persons of employers as far as household chores were concerned.
Sema added that should employers fail to comply with the order, affected kasambahay could seek help from his office.
The new wage order will take effect 15 days after its publication in newspapers of regional circulation. —Edwin O. Fernandez