RTWPB-X Wage Order No. RX-22 set to take effect next week, January 11, 2024.
MindanaoToday.com | 2 wage orders take effect in Region 10
By: URIEL QUILINGUING
Effective January 11 this year, workers in private firms and domestic workers in Northern Mindanao are entitled to wage increases over their existing rates, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-X (RTWPB-X) announced Thursday, January 4.
This, after the RTWPB-X motu proprio issued on December 21, 2023 Wage Order No. RX-22 for minimum daily wage earners and Wage Order No. RX-DW-04 for those providing household services.
Lawyer Erwin Aquino, Department of Labor and Employment’s director for Northern Mindanao and chairperson of RTWPB-X, said there was a 90-percent wage-order compliance on of the 1,068 establishments they inspected last year.
Aquino said Wage Order No. RX-22 is applicable to all minimum daily wage earners, regardless of the size in terms of workforce and capitalization of the business establishment.
Arsenio Sebastian III, a management representative in the RTWPB-X, said they conducted a review of Wage Order No. RX-21 even without a petition because they are mandated “to periodically assess” wage rates. Wage Order No. RX-21 took effect on June 18, 2022.
Sebastian said the region’s poverty level was one of the indicators the RTWPB-X considered in their deliberations, aside from other socio-economic indicators that include, among others, employers’ capacity to pay, prices of basic commodities, and current wage levels among regions.
Bernie Salinas, a supervising labor employment officer of RTWPB-X, said there was a need to adjust the wage levels in the region after the Philippine Statistics Authority released the official estimates of poverty threshold for 2021.
“Three of the wage categories under Wage Order No. RX-21 were below the poverty threshold,” Salinas said to back Sebastian’s statement.
Milbert Macarambon, a labor representative in the RTWPB-X, said they made “balancing acts” in deciding for the amount to be granted as well as on the schedule of wage adjustments’ effectivity; P50 adjustment was initially proposed and that May 1, 2024 (labor day) should have been the full implementation.
Wage Order No. RX-22 granted a two-tranche 33-peso increase on daily minimum wage (DMW) on all wage categories, P23 on January 11 and P10 on July 1, both in 2024. The DMW in the region shall then be P423 (Wage Category 2) to P438 (Wage Category 1) for the non-agriculture sector, and from P411 (Wage Category 2) to P426 (Wage Category 2) for the agriculture sector.
Under Wage Category 1 are the cities of Cagayan de Oro, El Salvador, Gingoog, Iligan, Malaybalay, Ozamiz, and Valencia, and the municipalities of Jasaan, Lugait, Maramag, Manolo Fortich, Opol, Quezon,Tagoloan, and Villanueva. Those under Wage Category 2 are the cities of Oroquieta and Tangub and all other municipalities in the region.
For those in households (Kasambahay), Wage Order No. RX-DW-04 increased their monthly minimum wage (MMW) to P5,000 from the previous P4,500 in chartered cities and first-class municipalities and P3,500 in other municipalities. There were P500 and P1,500 adjustments in MMWs in two area categories. (MT)
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