P42 wage hike OK’d

CEBU, Philippines — More than 300,000 minimum wage earners in Central Visayas, including workers in Negros Oriental and Siquijor, are set to benefit from a P42 daily wage increase starting October 14, 2026.

The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) unanimously affirmed the decision of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-7 (RTWPB-7) to grant the wage increase, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Francis Tolentino said in an interview over radio station DYLA.

The NWPC also approved a P500 increase in the minimum monthly wage of domestic workers, or kasambahays, in Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.

Their minimum monthly wage will rise from P7,000 to P7,500, also effective after the required publication period.

Tolentino said the new wage rates will take effect after the required 15-day publication period for the wage order.

The increase will raise the daily minimum wage in Class A areas, including Expanded Metro Cebu, from P540 to P582.

Class A covers Cebu City, Danao City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Naga City and Talisay City, as well as the municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla and San Fernando.

For Class B areas, the minimum wage will increase from P500 to P542 per day.

The wage adjustment will cover agricultural and non-agricultural minimum wage workers in Central Visayas, including Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor, which are now part of the Negros Island Region but remain under the coverage of RTWPB-7 for wage-setting purposes pending the establishment of a separate wage board.

The NWPC’s current wage matrix lists the existing Central Visayas rates at P500 to P540 under Wage Order No. ROVII-26.

RTWPB-7 Chairperson and DOLE-7 Regional Director Emmanuel Ferrer said the P42 increase was reached after deliberations among labor and management representatives.

“Right from the start, the board decided that there will be an increase, but the increase should be responsible enough from both sides,” Ferrer said.

He added that the board considers socioeconomic indicators, the basic needs of workers and their families, and the capacity of employers to pay.

Data from government agencies, including the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Education, were presented during the deliberations to help assess economic conditions and the situation of workers at the grassroots level.

Labor and management representatives submitted proposals and counterproposals before the board arrived at the P42 adjustment.

The wage petitions were filed on April 6, 2026, followed by consultations and public hearings in Tagbilaran, Bogo, Cebu City, Dumaguete and Balamban.

Various amounts were proposed during the consultations, including a P100 increase, but the board eventually approved P42 after considering prevailing economic conditions and employers’ capacity to absorb the additional labor cost.

Tolentino said they also considered inflation and the economic situation in Cebu and Central Visayas before arriving at the wage adjustment.

For a worker paid the minimum wage and working 26 days a month, the P42 daily increase translates to an additional P1,092 in monthly basic pay.

Tolentino said the impact of the increase may also extend to benefits and payments that are computed based on the basic wage, such as overtime pay, holiday pay, night-shift differential and 13th-month pay, subject to existing rules.

Inflation pressures

The wage increase comes amid elevated price pressures in Central Visayas.

According to the PSA, Central Visayas recorded an 8.1 percent inflation rate in August 2026, following 8.7 percent in July and 10.0 percent in June. The region had recorded 10.8 percent inflation in May.

For households in the bottom 30 percent income group, inflation in Central Visayas was higher at 11.6 percent in July 2026.

While the wage increase was approved unanimously by the regional wage board and affirmed by the NWPC, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) questioned whether the P42 adjustment is sufficient to address workers’ rising cost of living.

TUCP spokesperson Carlos Miguel Oñate said the new wage rates remain far below what the labor group considers a living wage for Central Visayas.

Oñate said that even after the increase, the P582 minimum wage in Expanded Metro Cebu remains far from the estimated P1,400 daily family living wage cited by the TUCP.

He also questioned the continued application of different wage rates within Central Visayas, particularly the distinction between Class A and Class B areas.

The TUCP has called for legislation providing a substantially higher nationwide wage increase and cited House Bill No. 88, which proposes a P200 daily minimum wage increase. The labor group also pointed to the region’s inflation rate in arguing for a higher adjustment.

TUCP, in a separate statement, condemned the approved P42 daily wage increase in Region VII for being grossly inadequate, deeply insulting, and completely disconnected from the socioeconomic reality confronting Central Visayas.

It added that “without any sense of logic, urgency, or justice, the DOLE is effectively telling every worker in Central Visayas: prices are exploding, even faster than the nation, but your family must survive on a mere P42 increase.”

Assistance for MSMEs

Tolentino said the DOLE is preparing an assistance program for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that may have difficulty immediately absorbing the higher wage cost.

The program, called “Sagip Trabaho,” will be implemented under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).

Tolentino said the program is intended to help eligible MSMEs sustain the wages of their workers while allowing the businesses time to adjust to the mandated wage increase.

Under the proposed assistance, DOLE would temporarily shoulder workers’ salaries for eligible small and medium enterprises that cannot immediately absorb the additional labor cost, with the goal of keeping workers employed while helping businesses survive the adjustment period.

Aside from the assistance program, Tolentino said qualified MSMEs that cannot afford the wage increase may apply for an exemption under the applicable guidelines.

He said eligible establishments will have 75 days from the effectivity of the wage order to file their applications.

The exemption mechanism is intended to provide temporary relief to qualified establishments while maintaining the general requirement for employers to comply with the new minimum wage.

Ferrer said employers will be required to comply with the new wage rates once the wage order takes effect.

Workers who encounter employers who fail to implement the mandated rates may report the matter to the DOLE-7 office along Gorordo Avenue in Cebu City.

The labor department may exercise its visitorial and enforcement powers under Article 128 of the Labor Code against establishments that fail to comply with the wage order.