LEGAZPI CITY—The Department of Labor and Employment has recently approved an amount ranging from P5 to P12 as an increase in the minimum daily wages of Bicol’s workers in the private sector.
During the series of public hearings conducted over the year by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, the region’s labor sector insisted on a P50 increase, saying that the cost of living had gone up due to soaring prices of basic commodities and services, including electricity and water, keeping below the poverty line households that earn only P236 per day.
They cited that the poverty threshold in Bicol as determined by the National Economic and Development Authority currently stands at P245 per day.
The region’s private sector’s workers work hard but the daily wage they receive makes it difficult for them to feed a family of five and send their children to school, according to the Alliance on Progressive Labor.
The group suggested that the proposed P50 hike would at least provide some relief to augment workers’ purchasing power.
Under Wage Order No. RBV-16, which took effect on Jan. 10, 2014, the regional daily minimum wage was P260 for establishments with more than 10 workers and P236 for those with less than 10 workers in both the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.
Last week, the DOLE’s National Wages and Productivity Commission affirmed the latest wage order of Bicol’s RTWPB raising minimum daily wages by only P5 for workers in non-agriculture establishments whose employees are more than 10 workers and P12 for those working also in non-agriculture establishments employing not more than 10 workers.
Workers in agricultural establishments get a uniform increase of P12 in their daily wage.
These increases carried by Wage Order No. RBV-17 took effect last Dec. 25, DOLE Bicol regional director Nathaniel Lacambra on Tuesday here said.
Earlier, the DOLE regional office revealed that about 14 percent of Bicol employers do not comply with the prevailing minimum wage rate based on monitoring results despite the new online labor laws compliance system which automatically tracks down, rates and reports the output of compliance officers.
Lacambra said complaints for non-compliance shall be filed with the DOLE regional office and shall be subject to the mandatory 30-day conciliation and mediation process under the single-entry approach reform measure.