• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB6) in Western Visayas has scheduled a series of public hearings on minimum wage adjustment in the region, including Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, starting on Oct. 6.
In an advisory Sept. 21, the RTWPB6 said the blended public hearings, to be conducted face-to-face and online, will start on Oct. 6 for workers in private establishments in Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
It will be held from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Citadines in Bacolod City.
The following day, the public hearing for workers in the sugar industry, including sugarcane planters and farm workers in Negros Occidental and Panay will be held, also at Citadines, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
On Oct. 9, the hearing for the proposed wage adjustment for kasambahays, or domestic workers, in Negros Occidental and Panay will be held at Sam’s 21 Hotel in Iloilo City, from 1:30-4 p.m.
In the morning, the RTWPB6 will also hear inputs from labor and management on the minimum salary increase petition for workers in private establishments in Iloilo, Antique, and Guimaras.
The last hearing for stakeholders in Aklan and Capiz is set on Oct. 20 in Boracay.
These hearings aim to gather the views and inputs of stakeholders in the minimum wage adjustment in Western Visayas, the RTWPB6 said.
RTWPB6 spokesperson, Atty. Mark Vernon Dioquino, earlier explained that Bacolod and Negros Occidental are still included under Western Visayas since the Wage Board for Negros Island Region has yet to be created.
He also said that labor groups in Negros Occidental and Panay are asking for a P250 daily increase in the minimum wage.
The current minimum wage in the region, including in the highly-urbanized Bacolod and Negros Occidental, is P550 in the non-agriculture/industrial/commercial sector with more than 10 workers, and P525 for establishments with 10 workers or less.
Workers in the agriculture sector should be paid P520 a day, while kasambahays should get a monthly salary of P6,500, per the approved minimum wage order that took effect on Nov. 19, 2025. | CGC
