A BIGGER daily minimum wage increase for workers in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental is already certain and will be implemented starting next year.
This development came after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) Central Visayas, during its two-day hearing at the Madison Hotel in Iloilo City until Thursday, has drafted the new wage order for the region, including Negros Occidental.
Wennie Sancho, labor representative to the RTWPB-Western Visayas, said they have already submitted the said draft to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for review.
It will be sent back to the regional Wage Board for its signature, Sancho said, adding that the effectivity of the new wage order is expected to start on January 15, 2017.
"We are now sure that our workers will have an increase in their daily minimum wage in 2017 unlike this year," the labor representative said.
The last wage order approved in 2015 provided workers in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental a daily increase of P11.50.
Under Wage Order No. 22, which expired last May 2, minimum wage earners for non-agriculture, industrial and commercial sectors currently have P298.50 daily wage if the company employs more than 10 workers while P256.50 for those with less than 10 employees.
For the agriculture sector, plantation and non-plantation workers earn a daily minimum wage of P266.50 and P256.50, respectively.
When asked if how much is the impending wage increase, Sancho said it is part of the Board's protocol and collective agreement not to divulge the amount yet.
Only the chairman, Department of Labor and Employment Region-Western Visayas Director Salome Siaton, can make the official announcement, he said.
But another source of SunStar Bacolod hinted that the new wage order will provide an increase of not less than P25 per day.
"What I can just share now is that we will have a bigger increase, higher than the existing P11.50," Sancho said.
Despite that, the amount is not that substantial, Sancho said,"(but) it's better than having nothing."
Moreover, Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod said that aside from Western Visayas, other regions have already finished their wage hike deliberations.
Maglunsod was in Bacolod City yesterday for the unveiling of brass marker as dedication to Negrense labor leader Zoilo Dela Cruz and launching of the One-Stop Service Center for Overseas Filipino Workers.
He assured that the labor sector will get a "good amount" under the new administration.
Currently, the country's biggest daily minimum wage is P491 for those in National Capital Region, he said, stressing that "this is still not enough as the ideal salary for Filipinos is pegged at P1,086 per day.” (EPN)