C. Visayas workers get P18-wage hike

CEBU CITY, Philippines –The workers in Central Visayas could expect an additional P18 of their daily minimum wage at the end of August.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board has issued Wage Order No. 15, which raised the daily minimum wage of the workers in Central Visayas by P18 in all classes.

This means that the daily minimum wage for workers in Class A areas that include the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Danao, Talisay, Carcar and Naga as well as the municipalities of Compostela, Liloan, Consolacion, Cordova, Minglanilla and San Fernando will be increased to P285, up from the current P267.

The Class B areas that refer to those outside Metro Cebu, including the cities of Bogo and Toledo, but excluding Bantayan and Camotes Island, will have a daily wage of P265, up from the previous P247.

Bohol and Negros Oriental provinces, which fall under Class C, will have a daily wage of P255, up from P237.

On the other hand, Siquijor and Bantayan and Camotes Islands, which are considered Class D, will get P240, up from P222.

However, the board also agreed to delay at least by six months the implementation of the increase for legitimate exporters or those exporters listed under the Department of Trade and Industry and the Confederation of Philippine Exporters Foundation (Philexport) Cebu.

Philexport Cebu has around 100 member-companies, mostly engaged in furniture manufacturing for export, said Regional Diretor Elias Cayanong of the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas.

The export companies, which also cater to the local market, could not avail of the delayed implementation of the wage hike if their exports do not reach 90 percent of their total production.

The export companies in Mactan Economic Zone were not covered in the delayed implementation, Cayanong told station dyLA after the wage board meeting at around 2 p.m. Thursday.

The region has between 85,000 to 100,000 workers.

With the delayed implementation, Cayanong said only around 45,000 to 65,000 workers would initially benefit from the increase.

The increase will take effect 15 days after its publication in the newspapers. The wage board must first submit the wage order to the National Wages Productivity Commission for legal purposes.

Cayanong said the board has agreed in principle last week for the P18 amount but they only finalized it during the Thursday meeting.

The board agreed on the P18-increase based on the cost of living, fuel cost, inflation rate and the cost of the basic services, among others, he said.

Cayanong admitted that the difference between the P285 minimum wage in Metro Cebu and that of Metro Manila, which is P402, would be wider after the wage board in Metro Manila granted a P22-wage hike.

However, he maintained that the cost of living in Manila is higher than that of Metro Cebu. –Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas