New wage hike in Western Visayas now in effect

BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — Employers in Western Visayas were urged to implement the new wage increases that took effect in Region 6 on Sunday.

“I am appealing to all employers to properly implement the new wage order,” said Sixto Rodriguez Jr., the region’s director of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) who also heads the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).

The RTWPB has approved daily wage increases of P33 to P40 for workers in private establishments and P1,000 for domestic workers in Western Visayas.

READ: Eastern Visayas workers to get P30 daily wage hike in 2 tranches

An additional P33 was approved for non-agricultural workers of a firm that employs more than 10 persons, which raised their current wage from P480 to P513 while the P35 increase for non-agricultural workers (10 or fewer employees) raised their daily wage from P450 to P485.

The P40 increase for agricultural workers brought their daily wage from P440 to P480.

Also approved was a P1,000 monthly wage increase for “kasambahays” (domestic workers) from P5,000 to P6,000.

Micro and small businesses, who want to be exempted from implementing the 2024 minimum wage order, could visit the provincial offices of Dole and secure information and application forms, said Frank Carbon, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) vice president for governmental affairs.

Review cost

Carbon and the MBCCI had opposed the wage hike as it would drive up inflation in the region, adding that the absence of wage control could result in job cuts or shorter work hours.

“Inflation is why workers in Western Visayas are faced with high costs of food and the government passes it on to the employers to solve. That is not our job,” he said.

Nonetheless, Carbon said they have to follow the new wage order.

“We have to comply. A few may apply for exemption or opt to close or reduce workforce or work hours. Generally, we are a bit wary and worried. Natural calamities, rising fuel prices, high bank lending rates, reduced money velocity, and this latest wage order may induce another wage [to] push inflation,” he said.

He added: “We are now reviewing our costs line by line. We have to find a way to reduce costs and avoid closing our shops. Preserving jobs is a lot easier than creating. Hope our regulators are thinking the way we do,” he added.

For Wennie Sancho, secretary general of the General Alliance of Workers Association, the new wage hike was still not enough and far from the P110 increase they were asking for.