P5 CV wage hike takes effect next week

TUGUEGARAO CITY – Starting Nov. 25, thousands of workers in Cagayan Valley will receive an additional P5 in their daily minimum wage, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) said.

With the increase, minimum wage earners will get a daily take-home pay of P223 for Isabela; P220 for Cagayan; P216 for Nueva Vizcaya; and P215 for Quirino and Batanes.

The hike includes the daily P8 emergency cost of living allowance and an additional P15 for the regular daily COLA.  

For private agriculture workers, the daily minimum wage will be P211 (Isabela), P208 (Cagayan), P204 (Nueva Vizcaya), and P203 (Quirino and Batanes).

Workers in the retail trade, whose employers have more than 10 workers, will receive a daily wage of P215 in Isabela; P212 in Cagayan; P208 in Nueva Vizcaya; and P207 in Quirino and Batanes.

Loreta Ramos, RTWPB secretary, said the increase may be a pittance compared to the request by the region’s labor groups through the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

“But somehow it would alleviate the daily needs of our workers,” she said.

Earlier, Grace Ursua, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment and RTWPB chairman, said the TUCP-Cagayan Valley had sought a P100 increase in the daily minimum wage.

Last year, the RTWPB granted a P10 wage increase.