(Eagle News) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday, November 5, announced the approval of the additional P25 wage hike for minimum wage workers in Metro Manila.
This was contained in Wage Order No. NCR-22. Upon effectivity of the order, 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation, the new minimum wage will be P537.
The P10 cost of living allowance has been integrated in the wage hike.
“Upon effectivity of Wage Order No. NCR-22, the new minimum wage rates in Metro Manila shall be 500 to 537 across different sectors,” said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello in a press briefing Monday.
The increase is, however, way below the P334 wage hike sought by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
It is much closer to the P20 wage increase proposed by the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP).
Bello said that the when the Regional Tripartite Wage Board decided on the P25 increase in minimum wages it took into consideration and “balanced” the needs of both the workers and their families, and the “capacity of enterprises to pay the additional labor costs.”
This is “without impairing business especially its capacity to continuously generate jobs.”
Bello said that there would also be an increase in minimum wages in Cagayan Valley and MIMAROPA. For Cagayan Valley, the daily wage rate will be from P320 to P360 across various sectors. For MIMAROPA, the daily minimum wage will be in the range of P283 to P320.
