Wage board approves P13 wage hike for Metro Cebu workers

CEBU CITY—Workers in the private sector in Metro Cebu will enjoy a P13 increase in minimum wage.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas (RTWPB-7) agreed to adjust the minimum pay of workers in Metro Cebu following a deliberation that started at 9 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. on Monday.

Once the new wage order takes effect, it will mean that the minimum wage in Metro Cebu will be pegged at P366 per day from the current rate of P353.
Lawyer Ernesto Carreon, RTWPB-7 labor representative, said the wage board would meet next week to decide if the increase would cover other areas in Central Visayas specifically Bohol, Siquijor and other parts of Cebu.

Carreon said some members argued that the amount should not be given to other areas like in Bohol, where workers were reportedly receiving higher amount than workers in Butuan City and Cagayan de Oro cities.

He said they also agreed to raise the minimum pay of housemaids from P2,500 monthly to P3,000 in Cebu City. The rates for other areas had yet to be determined.

During the deliberation on Monday, the wage board rejected the two petitions that sought more than P100 per day increase in minimum wage.
Carreon said he pushed for a P50 increase in minimum wage but was rejected since the management representatives in the wage board wanted a zero increase.

He said he reminded other members of the board that they approved an adjustment of P13 after supertyphoon “Yolanda (international name: Haiyan)” hit most parts of the Visayas.

It would be embarrassing if no increase would be approved when the Visayas had already recovered three years after the onslaught of the strongest typhoon to hit land.