Workers in the country’s 16 regions will soon get their wage increases, too.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) reported yesterday that wage boards in the different regions are conducting deliberations and expected to come out with their new wage orders anytime.
“Since last month the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) nationwide have been conducting deliberations and public hearings even without petitions in their respective areas,” acting NWPC executive director Esther Guirao said.
Guirao said the regional boards would consider the merits of wage hike petitions and decide the amount, form and coverage, and effectivity of the wage grant immediately after the public hearings.
The regional boards, he said, will determine whether a wage order should be issued based on social and economic indicators.
He said they have to take into consideration various criteria in wage determination to ensure a fair and reasonable wage adjustment as mandated in Republic Act 6727 or the minimum wage fixing law.
The criteria include the needs of workers and their families, the capacity to pay of employers, and other critical indicators of national development such as gross domestic product, employment/unemployment, inflation and price movements.
So far, five wage hike petitions have been filed with the regional boards in Mimaropa (Region 4-B), Socsksargen (Region 12), Central Visayas (Region 7), Northern Mindanao (Region 10), and Davao (Region 11).
The wage board in the National Capital Region recently approved Wage Order No. 13 granting a P12 increase and the integration of the existing P50 cost of living allowance into the basic wage.
The new wage order, which will take effect on Aug. 28, pegs the minimum wage rate in Metro Manila at P362 for non-agricultural workers and P325 for agricultural, retail and manufacturing workers.