THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLe) announced yesterday that the Regional TriĀpartite Productivity and Wages Board-National Capital Region (RTPWB-NCR) has approved a P25 pay increase for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
āLast October 30, the National Capital Region approved a P25 basic wage increase and integraĀtion of its existing P10 COLA. Upon effectivity of the Wage Order No. NCR-22, the new minimum wage rates in Metro Manila shall be P500 to P537 across different sectors,ā Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said in a press briefing.
He explained that the boards are tripartite in composition beĀcause in deciding a minimum wage adjustment, it has to balĀance the needs of workers and their families with the capacity of enterprises to pay the additional labor costs without impairing business, especially its capacity to continuously generate jobs.
The new wage order will take effect 15 days from its publication in a newspaper of general circulaĀtion.
As of end of October, 16 of 17 Regional Boards have issued new wage orders granting increases in the current minimum wage rates raging from P9 to P57.
Malacanang, however, clarified that the P25-increase in the miniĀmum wage of Metro Manila private workers is still āsubject to changeā depending on the economic situĀation.
But for now, Presidential SpokesĀman Salvador Panelo acknowlĀedged that the latest wage adjustĀment approved by the wage board was āenoughā to help workers in the NCR.
āThere has been deliberation on wage board and apparently thatās the decision so letās see,ā Panelo said during a Palace press briefing when asked if the minimum wage hike was fair.
When asked if the wage increase was enough for workers cope with rising prices, Panelo said: āPerhaps presently thatās what they found out thatās enough. But I guess itās always subject to change dependĀing on the economic conditions.ā
Earlier, the Palace said the inĀterests of the labor sector and employers would be taken into consideration during the deliberaĀtion on the wage hike petition.
āThe Palace assures everyone that the interests and well-being of both sides, management and labor, as well as the overall impact to our domestic economy, would be considered by the government in attending to this matter,ā he added.
Labor groups have pressed for a P335-increase in the daily miniĀmum wage of private workers in Metro Manila to help them cope with rising consumer prices. EmĀployers however have reportedly warned that such huge wage hike proposal might hit businesses and scare away investors. (Leslie Ann Aquino and Genalyn Kabiling)