DOLE grants wage hikes in Ilocos, Caraga, and Cagayan Valley

MANILA, Philippines —  Workers in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Caraga regions are set to receive meager pay hikes after the Department of Labor and Employment accelerated its review of wages across the country.

The wage board in Ilocos issued on May 16 increases that ranged from P60 to P90 in two to three tranches, the DOLE statement read. Once the tranches are completed, the new daily minimum wage in the region will be set at P372 to P400.

Likewise, wages for domestic workers based in cities, first-class municipalities, and municipalities in the Ilocos region were set at a uniform monthly wage rate of P5,000 following mandated increases of P500 to P1,500.

Workers based in the Cagayan Valley are set for wage hikes ranging from P50 to P75 that will be handed out in two to three tranches. The increases in the region will range from P400 to P420 once the wage board-approved increases are pencilled.

In the Caraga region, the wage board set the new daily minimum wage to P350, after it pencilled in the P15 cost of living allowance under the previous wage order and a P30 pay hike. This will take effect for laborers in private establishments in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sure, and Surigao del Sur.

Employees in businesses based in the Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte will see a P20 increase in their daily wages followed by a P10 hike on September 1.

The daily minimum wage in Metro Manila and Western Visayas was bumped recently, and will be implemented on June 3 after the National Wages and Productivity Commission rubberstamped it on Tuesday.

the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines filed wage hike petitions across several regions in the country in past months to alleviate the worsening living conditions aggravated by pandemic fallout and expensive fuel prices due in part to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The latest development on wage increase was announced by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, even as he also thanked the three region's wage boards for heeding his call to expedite the review of their current minimum wage and for taking the extra mile in resolving with dispatch the petitions for wage adjustments in their jurisdictions," said DOLE.