Pay hike unlikely in Central Mindanao

COTABATO CITY—Workers could well afford the cost of living in Central Mindanao and may not benefit from any increase in daily pay, according to the Department of Labor and Employment director in the region.

Director Gloria Tango said in an interview with a local radio station that the regional wage board, which she chairs, was inclined to believe early assessments that there was no need to increase wages in provinces and cities in Central Mindanao.

The provinces are North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and South Cotabato.

Tango, however, said the board would still conduct public hearings to determine enough reasons for a pay increase.

Should the board decide to raise wages, she said, the workers would likely get it in November. She said, however, that currently, there were no “supervening conditions” or enough reasons for such.

While prices of basic commodities have increased slightly, Tango said the people’s purchasing power was capable of coping with it.

Even workers appeared to accept that a wage increase was not needed at this time in the absence of any labor petition filed at the board, she said.

The last pay benefit imposed in the region was in October last year when the board approved a P15 increase in cost of living allowance. This brought the minimum daily wage to P260 for nonagriculture workers, P240 for plantation workers, P235 for nonplantation workers, P240 for establishments employing not more than 10 workers, and P234 for establishments employing less than 10 people.

Nationwide, only Central Mindanao has not issued a new wage order since January. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao