DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 March) – The legislative push for a nationwide P100 to P400 daily increase for minimum wage earners in the private sector “must be compatible with the socio-economic conditions and purchasing power of each region,” an official from the Department of Labor and Employment – Davao Region (DOLE-Davao) said.
“If Congress will (pass it into) law, they have to see to it that the socio-economic conditions, the purchasing power, and the poverty threshold of a particular region (are all taken into account),” Atty. Randolph Pensoy, DOLE-Davao regional director, told reporters at the sidelines of the Kapehan sa Dabaw press conference Monday morning at SM City Davao.
To recall, senators last February 19 approved Senate Bill 2534 on third and final reading, garnering 20 affirmative votes. Senators Imee Marcos, Lito Lapid, Cynthia Villar, and Mark Villar were absent during the voting.
The House of Representatives, on the other hand, is looking at a nationwide across-the-board daily wage increase of P400 for private sector workers, House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Janette L. Garin said in a BusinessWorld report published last month.
Pensoy said that Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act accorded minimum wages per region through the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).
For Davao Region, its RTWPB approved a P38 minimum wage effective March 6.
The first tranche of P19 took effect last March 6, while the remaining P19 on September 1, 2024.
Upon the effectivity of the first tranche, the daily wage rate for non-agricultural workers was adjusted to P462 from P443 and for agriculture, P457 from P438. Starting September 1, the new rates would be P481 for non-agriculture and P476 for those in the agriculture sector.
Pensoy said the determination of daily minimum wage is done through the RTWPBs because “the lifestyle in Davao City is different from Metro Manila,” where the cost of living in the former is cheaper.
Should President Marcos Jr. approves the legislative measure, this will be the second time the minimum wage will be uniformly increased across all regions since 1989.
Republic Act 6727 increased the minimum wage rates of all workers in the private sector to P89 when the law took effect in July 1989.
Since then, each region’s RTWPB wage orders were issued to add certain amounts to minimum wages, considering several factors which can be agreed upon by the labor department, the employers, and representatives of employees. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
