Region 1 workers get P14 wage hike

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Minimum wage earners in the Ilocos Region will get a P14 increase in their daily take home pay.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-1 issued Wage Order RBI-17 and its implementing rules and regulations on the wage increase for non-agriculture and agriculture workers on July 19.  

Grace Ursua, Department of Labor and Employment Region 1 director and chairman of the RTWPB-1, said the increase would be given in two tranches – P7 upon effectivity of the order and P7 starting Dec. 1.

 Ursua said 118,847 employees in 45,542 micro-establishments in the region would benefit from the wage hike.

She said the wage order was issued following public hearings in Vigan, San Fernando in La Union and Dagupan City in Pangasinan on May 18, 19 and 20.

She said the deadline for filing exemptions from the coverage of the wage order is on Sept. 17 at the RTWPB-1 or at the field offices of the DOLE in the region.

Ursua said new establishments, calamity-hit or distressed companies and those employing not more than 10 workers are exempted from the wage order.