CALAMBA CITY
(PIA) – Around 720,000
minimum wage earners
in Calabarzon can expect
higher daily pay later this
month after the region’s
wage board approved an
increase in minimum wages in the private sector.
The Regional
Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)
IV-A announced that starting September 24, 2023,
workers will receive a daily
increase ranging from P35
to P50 on top of their current rate under Wage Order No. IVA-20.
With the wage
order, the new minimum
rates in Calabarzon will
Wage…
now range between P385
and P520 in non-agriculture sector, P385 to P479
in the agriculture sector,
and P385 for retail and
service establishments
employing not more than
10 workers.
“For example, if
you used to earn a minimum wage rate of P470,
we added P50 in areas
that are already developed. That amounts to
a 10.63% increase. The
others would be rounded
up to nine to 11%,” said
Gener Rivera, Labor and
Employment Officer III of
RTWPB IV-A.
The new wage
order was based on sepFROM PAGE 1
arate consultations with
workers and companies,
where factors were also
considered such as the
inflation rate, purchasing
power of the peso, price of
basic goods, and the companies’ capacity to provide
the requested wage increase.
“The rest of the
factors that are considered
in creating the wage order
are decided by our board
members who have the
expertise and know the
necessary data and requirements for a wage increase,” Rivera explained.
The wage adjustment includes minimum wage workers in the
private sector across all
industries, including both
regular and contractual
workers.
“All minimum
wage workers – whether in
manufacturing, retail and
service, or any other industry – will receive a salary increase. If you earn
the lowest wage, those
rates will be increased.
No matter where you work
or what job you have as a
minimum wage earner, everyone is included,” Rivera
added.
Once implemented, workers in the agriculture sector in emerging
growth areas will have a
minimum wage of P385,
up from P350, while those
in the extended metropolitan area will have a minimum wage of P479.
Workers in Calabarzon welcomed the
wage increase even as
they pushed for the initial
minimum wage petition
of P750 due to the higher
cost of basic goods and
utilities.
Edward Latoja,
a manufacturing worker
from Dasmariñas City,
described the increase as
beneficial but would not be
enough to match today’s
high cost of living.
“You already
have expenses as soon as
you wake up, what more
when you go to work.
There are still monthly
bills to pay, like electricity.
That’s why the P520-minimum wage is still
