No wage hike plea yet from Caraga workers

BUTUAN CITY — Despite recent increases in fuel prices that have had an impact on the cost of basic commodities as well as looming tuition hikes, the labor sector in the Caraga region has not filed any petition for a minimum wage adjustment, two officials of the regional tripartite wage board said.

Brielgo Pagaran, regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry, and Shirley Lim, private sector representative to the wage board, said the labor sector has not filed such a petition since the last regional wage increase in June last year.

At present, Lim, president of the Agusan Institute of Technology, said the highest minimum wage in the Caraga region is P188 plus P12 cost of living allowance (COLA) for non-agricultural and industrial workers. 

Agricultural workers, for their part, receive a daily minimum wage of P178 plus P12 COLA, while non-plantation workers get P158 plus P12 COLA.

Workers in the retail or service sector employed by companies with less than 10 employees — who represent the majority of Caraga’s wage earners — receive only P158 plus P12 COLA.

Unless there are "supervening circumstances," Pagaran said an increase in the minimum wage is not allowed within one year after the last adjustment.