March 29, 2024

Minimum wage earners in the Cordillera are expected to receive the second tranche of increase in their salary by Jan. 1.
Department of Labor and Employment Sec. Bienvenido Laguesma reminded employers in the region to implement the second tranche of the wage hike that was approved by the Regional Tripartite and Wages Productivity Board (RTWPB) in June last year.
“We hope employers in the Cordillera will implement the second tranche of salary increase, although we acknowledge that a lot are still recovering,” Laguesma said.
The RTWPB approved last year a P50 increase in the salary of minimum wage earners, of which the P30 hike was implemented in June 14, 2022, making the basic pay P380 a day.
The P20 increase is set for implementation on Jan.1, making the daily minimum wage in the Cordillera at P400, both for the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.
Laguesma said the RTWPB decided on implementing the region’s wage increase in two tranches as a way to help employers be able to provide for the needs of their workers, while recovering from the impacts of the pandemic.
He added while DOLE cannot prevent labor groups from petitioning for another wage increase, the law provides that only one salary hike is allowed in a year.
“We cannot prevent petitions for wage hike, but (we need to understand) that the last increase was in June and the law provides that in a year, only one wage increase may be implemented,” he said.
Laguesma said DOLE is balancing the needs of the workers and the capacity of employers to pay, especially since bulk of the country’s employers fall under the micro, small, and medium enterprises category.
“We also want to help the employers because they have not recovered yet from the pandemic. Batid nating nahihirapan sila ngunit alam nating nandiyan ang malasakit sa mga manggagawa,” he said.
Laguesma was in Baguio last week for the turnover of a livelihood project to the Wright Park Pony Boys Association. – Jane B. Cadalig