New minimum wage for Cordillera takes effect

BAGUIO CITY – The new minimum wage for Cordillera took effect on August 20, the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board said as it urged employers to abide by it.

                Based on the RTWPB  Wage Order RB – CAR – 19, the minimum daily  wage for Baguio City and La Trinidad,  Benguet is now P320 for all industries/sectors employing 11 or more workers and P310 for those with 10 workers and below.

For Tabuk City, Kalinga; Bangued, Abra; Bontoc, Bauko and Sagada  in Mountain Province; Lagawe and Banaue in Ifugao,  and Buguias, Itogon, Mankayan, Tuba and Tublay, the minimum daily wage is now P315 for those with 11 workers and more, and P305 for those with 10 workers and below.

For other parts of the region, the new minimum wage is P300 per day.

RTWPB Secretary Augusto Aquillo said as the new wage order took effect August 20 (15 days after its August 5 publication in newspaper), employers are now duty- bound to implement the order for workers in Cordillera.

For the proper implementation of the new wage order, Aquillo said RTWPB is set to conduct public consultations for both employers and workers in the different parts of the region.

Consultations were held Aug. 30 in Apayao and Aug. 31. It would be Sept. 6 in Abra, Sept. 6 for Baguio – Benguet,  Sept. 19 in Kalinga, Sept. 20 in Ifugao and Sept. 21 in Mountain Province.

Aquillo advised workers in the region to monitor if their work pay is already adjusted and if not yet, they have to remind their employers on the new wage order.

He  also called  on the public and the media  to help in monitoring non – compliance of the new wage order so that it can be reported to the Dept. of Labor and Employment for proper actions.

Aquillo said RD – CAR – 19 was an initiative of the RTWPB in the absence of any petition filed and took into considerations all economic factors and data as well as inputs from various public consultation conducted.

The new wage order, he said, adhered to all procedures and guidelines and strikes a balance between the economic needs of the workers and the capacity to pay of employers. -- PIA CAR