MANILA, Philippines – Minimum wage earners in Davao Region are set to benefit from a P19-increase in their daily wages after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved the hike on February 13.

The increase will begin on March 6 or 15 days after Wage Order No. RB XI-22 was published on February 19. The order also provided for an additional P19 as a second tranche, effective September 1.

The new increase brings daily minimum wages in Davao Region to P462 for non-agriculture workers and P457 for agriculture workers in the first tranche.

When the order is fully implemented in September, it will be further increased to P481 for the non-agriculture sector and P476 for the agriculture sector.

Some 132,347 minimum wage earners are expected to benefit from the wage hike. The Department of Labor and Employment also reported that around 316,558 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum may also indirectly benefit from upward adjustments.

Increase for domestic workers

The RTWPB also approved Wage Order No. RB XI-DW-03, which increases monthly minimum wages for domestic workers by P500 to P1,000.

Before the order, the minimum monthly salary of domestic workers in Davao was P4,500 regardless of area. For chartered cities and first-class municipalities, the minimum monthly wage for domestic workers will be increased to P6,000, while other municipalities will get an increase of up to P5,000 a month.

Around 64,111 domestic workers are expected to benefit from the increases.

Days before the wage order was released, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, in a press briefing on February 8, mentioned the upcoming wage increase for Davao Region after a number of regional boards approved wage hikes in 2023.

In January, tens of thousands of families were affected by shear line rains that poured down on Davao.

“Siguro medyo naging maingat sa pagsasaalang-alang ng anumang karagdagan…o kaya naman sa pananaw ng iba, lalo na mga maliliit na kompanya, pabigat sa kanila,” Laguesma had said.

(They were likely cautious about approving any increase…or for some, especially for small companies, that may have been a burden.)

Laguesma said that there was a need to consider not just the needs of workers but also the capacity of employers.

On Monday, February 19, the Senate approved on third and final reading a bill seeking a P100 across-the-board increase for minimum wages in the private sector. – Rappler.com