Caraga workers get P13 wage hike

The Caraga regional wage board has granted a P13 increase in the daily take-home pay of minimum wage earners in the region.

Patricia Hornilla, officer-in-charge of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), said minimum wage earners in Caraga – comprising the Surigao and Agusan provinces – will receive an additional P8 in their daily basic pay and P5 in their cost of living allowance (COLA)

She added that Caraga workers will continue to receive the existing P18 COLA provided under the previous wage order.

When the new wage order takes effect, the new daily minimum wage rates in the region will be P233 for workers in the non-agriculture sector and P203 to P223 for those in the agriculture sector.

Workers in retail and service establishments employing more than 10 employees will get P233, and those in firms with 10 workers or less, P203.

Hornilla said the new wage order will apply to all minimum wage earners in the private sector in the region “regardless of their position, designation or status and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid.”

The new wage order does not cover household or domestic helpers and people in the personal service of another, including family drivers and workers of registered barangay micro business enterprises hired after its effectivity. – Mayen Jaymalin