WV employers urged to implement P12 emergency allowance

ILOILO CITY, July 24 (PIA) — Department of Labor and Employment OIC-Regional Director Crispin Dannug has urged employers in Western Visayas to to make sure that Wage Order No. 19, which took effect last July 15 this year, is implemented.

Dannug in a DOLE press report told companies to make sure that this new wage order is implemented to avoid possible sanctions once affected workers will file a case in the DOLE or once their deficiencies will be discovered during inspection conducted by DOLE.

Wage Order No. 19 issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board granted P12 emergency cost of living allowance for workers in Western Visayas which includes the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental effective July 15.

Under the new wage order, according to the DOLE report, minimum wage earners in the private sector without exemption are entitled to receive the emergency allowance for a period of three months only from its effectivity regardless of their position, designation or status of employment and regardless of the method by which they are paid.

Household or domestic helpers, persons in the personal service of another including family drivers, and workers of duly registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) with Certificate of Authority pursuant to Republic Act 9178 are not covered by the new Wage Order.

DOLE 6 said that Wage Order No. 19 was an offshoot of the petitions filed by the Trade Union of Filipino Workers (TUFW) and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP)-TUCP that sought for an increase of PhP97.00 and PhP 99.00, respectively, in wages of workers in the private sector in the region. (JCM/LAF/PIA-Iloilo)