• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Minimum wage earners in Western Visayas, including in the highly-urbanized Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, will get increases in their salaries, ranging from P37 to P40 a day, effective on Nov. 19.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission said Nov. 3 that per Wage Order No. RBVI-29, the new minimum wage will be P550 in the non-agriculture/industrial/commercial sector with more than 10 workers, or an increase of P37; and P525 for establishments with 10 workers or less, or an increase of P40.
Workers in the agriculture sector will be paid P520, or an increase of P40, per the latest wage order.
Domestic workers, or kasambahays, meanwhile, should be paid a monthly salary of P6,500, or an increase of P500, also effective Nov. 19, per Wage Order RBVI-DW-07.
Aside from Bacolod and Negros Occidental, the pay hikes also cover private workers in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo, and Iloilo City.
The wage orders came after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas capped off its series of public hearings on minimum wage adjustment Oct. 15 and 16 in Talisay City, to determine the new pay rates in the region.
The current daily minimum wage rates, which took effect Nov. 17, 2024, are P513 for non-agriculture/industrial/commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers; P485 for those with 10 workers or less; and P480 for agricultural workers. | CGC
