R-12 private workers get P25 pay hike

GENERAL SANTOS CITY --- Private workers in Region-12 (Soccsksargen) will receive an additional P25 increase in their daily wages in two tranches likely starting the end of the month or early February.

Sisinio Cano, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Region 12 director, said Tuesday the increase was based on the new wage order unanimously approved last December 16 by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-12.

Cano said Wage Order No. RBXII-21 was signed on January 9 by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

Under the new wage order, Cano said all workers who are receiving minimum daily wages will receive an increase of P15 upon effectivity and additional P10 starting May 1.

“It will officially take effect 15 days after publication in a (local) newspaper,” the DOLE-12 chief told reporters.

The latest adjustment will bring the minimum daily wage rate in the region to P336 for workers in the non-agriculture sector and P315 for those in agriculture, retail and service sectors.

Cano, who chairs the RTWPB-12, said the wage increase was decided “motu proprio” or by the initiative of the board after a review of the region’s socio-economic condition.

He said the Board saw the need to provide workers with immediate relief measures so they can cope with the increase in the cost of living since the last wage adjustment in May 2018, which raised the minimum daily rates to P3118 for non-agriculture workers and P290 for those in agriculture, retail and service sectors.

Jessie dela Cruz, RTWPB-12 secretary, said the new wage rates will apply to all minimum wage workers in the private sector regardless of their “position, designation, and status of employment, and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid.”

Dela Cruz said it will specifically cover private workers in the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, and Kidapawan.

Dela Cruz said exemptions from compliance with the new wage order may be granted to retail and service establishments that are employing “not more than 10 workers.”

“Establishments affected by natural and human-induced calamities or disaster may also be given an exemption,” he said.

Parts of Soccsksargen were hit by a series of strong earthquakes from October to December that resulted in the destruction of hundreds of homes and several business establishments. (ROEL OSANO, PNA - COTABATO, MINDANAO EXPOSE')