THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday reported that minimum wage earners in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and Davao Region are the latest to benefit from the series of pay hikes after the regional wage boards granted an increase in their respective minimum wages.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III announced the latest wage increase, adding that private sector workers in Calabarzon are set to receive an additional P47 to P92 in their salary, while those in the Davao region will get an additional P47.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Calabarzon unanimously approved Wage Order RBIVA-19, setting the new minimum wage in the non-agriculture sector to P470 in the extended metropolitan area and the cities of Antipolo and Dasmariñas; P429 in component cities and (first class) municipalities; and P390 in the emerging growth area (second and third class municipalities) and resource-based area (fourth, fifth, and sixth class municipalities).

The new minimum wage rates in the agriculture sector, meanwhile, are P429 in the extended metropolitan area, in the cities of Antipolo and Dasmariñas, and component cities and (first class) municipalities; P390 in the emerging growth area (second and third class municipalities); and P350 in the resource-based area (fourth, fifth, and sixth class municipalities).

Also, the new minimum wage in retail and service establishments employing not more than ten workers is set at P350 or an increase of P47 from the previous P303.

The wage increases shall be given in two tranches. The wage board said that workers would benefit from the number of increases upon effectivity of the new wage order and six months thereafter.

Bello said the RTWPB cited “restoration” of the purchasing power of workers, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the competitiveness of wage levels between and across contiguous similarly situated regions, the simplification of the prevailing wage structure, and the need to promote industry dispersal as among the parameters in approving the new wage order in the region.

In Davao Region, meanwhile, the RTWPB issued Wage Order No. RBXI-21, which grants a wage increase of P47 for workers in agriculture, non-agriculture industrial/commercial and retail/service establishments employing more than ten workers, and retail/service establishments employing not more than ten workers.

The pay hike will be implemented in two tranches – P31 upon its effectivity and another P16 effective January 1, 2023.

Meanwhile, another P15 shall be granted to workers in the retail/service establishments employing not more than ten workers, effective April 1, 2023.

After full implementation of the wage tranches, the daily minimum wage rates in the Davao region will increase from P391 to P438 in the agriculture sector, from P396 to P443 in the non-agriculture sector, and from P381 to P443 for retail/service establishments employing not more than ten workers.

The Board also issued RBXI-DW-02 setting the new monthly wage rate for domestic workers to P4,500 or a monthly wage increase of P1,500 and P2,500 for chartered cities and first-class municipalities and other municipalities, respectively.

“Around 154,763 workers in private establishments and 64,111 domestic workers in the region are expected to benefit from the minimum wage increases,” Bello said, adding that the previous wage order for workers in private establishments took effect on Aug. 16, 2018, while that for domestic workers took effect on Dec. 16, 2017.

The issued wage orders in Calabarzon and Davao Region were submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for review and affirmation. They shall take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the region.