TACLOBAN CITY- The proposed new wage order for workers in the region has yet to be approved by the National Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (NTWPB).
However, it might just come before the end of the month or first week of February, Reynaldo Soliveres, regional director of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity (RTWPB), said in an interview.
“The central office is carefully studying the proposed wage order to ensure that this will not result to any diminution of benefits and salaries,(of the workers),” Soliveres said.
“But we expect a high possibility that they will approve it. So, if they can have the meeting early, we expect this will be approved within the end of January of early February,” he added.
Under the proposed wage order, contained under Wage Order Number 19, workers in the region are to receive an increase of P10 to P25 of their daily minimum wage.
The increase amount will depend on the sector and the number of workers.
At present, private workers of the region receives P260 as daily minimum wage.
Based on the proposed Wage Order Number 19, establishments with 10 workers and below are expected to have an increase of P10 of their daily minimum wage while those with 11 workers but not more than 30 are expected to have an increase of P15 a day while those with 31 and above workers could receive an increase of P25.
A P7 cost of living allowance (Cola) contained of the 2015 wage order is also to be put in effect under the proposed wage order.
Soliveres said that varying increases of daily minimum came about in response to the impacts of supertyphoon “Yolanda” that hit the industries in the region.
“We classified the industries and we also provided corresponding increases based on the categories because based on the data from NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) and PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority), region 8 has yet to fully recover from the onslaught of Yolanda,” Soliveres said.
The proposal to have a new wage hike was a “moto propio” act by the wage board in the hope that workers in the private sector could live decently while at the same time, without compromising the financial capacity of the establishments.
“The employers are supportive on this proposed wage order (as evidenced) during our consultations and public hearings,” Soliveres said.
Once approved by their central office, the proposed wage order will be published in a regional newspaper and will take effect 15 days after the publication. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
