Key officials from various government agencies in the Calabarzon Region, minimum wage workers, and other stakeholders convene on Friday, July 14, at the Department of Labor and Employment Batangas Provincial Office in Lipa City, Batangas for a public consultation on the minimum wage adjustment in the region. (Photos by Leomar De Torres of DOLE Batangas)
CALAMBA CITY, Laguna — The wage board in Calabarzon will hold a series of public consultations across the region to discuss minimum wage adjustments for the formal sector.
Lawyer Rio Ariel Soriano, secretary of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) IV-A, told the Philippine Information Agency that the consultation seeks to gather insights from all stakeholders on the minimum wage.
“Our public consultation is part of the dialogue on both the labor and management sectors, including our stakeholders such as housekeepers and local government units. The idea is for us to find out or be influenced by what the public really wants when it comes to the issue of minimum wage,” he said.
Soriano said they expect labor groups and local government units to attend the provincial consultations, which kicked off in Batangas yesterday.
“We also expect that our workers will also attend who also want to know and also want to have updates on what our petitioners are demanding, as well as the other labor sector groups who may also have their own version other than what the petitioners requested,” said Soriano.
Several labor groups in the region have earlier filed petitions for a wage hike for minimum wage earners in the private sector.
The Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines (MWAP) seeks a wage increase ranging from P280 to P400 while the Workers Organization of EMI has been asking for a P100 wage increase.
Meanwhile, Soriano said the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue will also join the wage hike consultations.
Other public consultations are set in Quezon on July 18; Cavite (July 21); Rizal (July 26); and Laguna (July 31).
Soriano said after the public consultations, the wage board would hold a deliberation and decide on the wage hike adjustment.
The last wage adjustment in the region was approved in 2022, which ranges from P350 to P470 depending on the workers’ category.
The prevailing minimum wage is at P470 for non-agricultural workers; P429 for agricultural workers; and P350 in retail and service establishments with not more than 10 workers. PIA
