Region 10 workers get P16 COLA hike

COTABATO CITY — The regional tripartite wages and productivity board has approved a P16 increase in the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) of minimum wage earners in Northern Mindanao.

Local newspapers quoted Ponciano Ligutom, Region 10 director of the Department of Labor and Employment, as saying that the new wage order took effect last Aug. 1.

Ligutom said the regional wage board agreed on the P16 COLA hike after extensive consultations with businessmen and representatives of the labor sector in the region.

Ligutom said there was a clamor for a P75 increase in COLA, but the wage board realized that employers would have a hard time complying with this.

Based on their consultations, Ligutom said the P16 COLA increase was more feasible and would not impair many businesses in Region 10. — John Unson