Central Visayas workers get P20 hike in wages

CEBU CITY—Workers in Central Visayas will receive a P20 increase in their daily wages before the end of this month.

Voting 4-2, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, approved the P20 increase in the basic pay of minimum wage earners in the region, which includes the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

Due to different wage classifications, workers in different areas in the region will have different pay rates.

Workers in Class A areas—including Metro Cebu, Carcar City and Danao City—will get P305 in daily pay up from the current P285.

Workers in Class B areas—those outside Metro Cebu but within Cebu province—will get P285 per day, up from P265.

Those in Class C areas—including Siquijor, Bantayan and Camotes Islands—will get P260 per day, up from P240.

“For the record, this is the highest wage increase issued by the wage board so far,” said Exequiel Sarcauga, acting labor regional director and chair of the regional wage board.

He said the region’s workers received an increase in basic pay, not just additional cost of living allowances (Cola) which wage boards in other regions approved for workers in their areas.

Sarcauga said businesses in distress for the past two years could be exempted from complying with the new wage order for a year after approval by the wage board.

In Eastern Visayas, workers were supposed to receive the last installment of P5 on their additional P15 Cola yesterday. With a report from Elvie Roman Roa