CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – It has been over a year since the last minimum wage increase in Central Luzon, but no pending wage increase is being considered by the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) despite recent increases in the prices of rice and other basic goods in the region.
RTWPD Secretary Elizabeth Tevez could not be reached yesterday but a member of her staff who asked not to be named for lack of authorization said not even the labor sector has sought any increase of minimum wage since the last minimum wage hike marked one year of its implementation on Oct. 11 last year.
The RTWPB said that a petition for any wage increase could be considered after a year since the last wage hike, or if there are circumstances that warrant such increase even before the one year period. In an interview, Department of Agriculture (DA) for Central Luzon Director Andrew Villacorta admitted that the price of rice has increased in local markets arising from damage to rice crops during the recent typhoons, particularly Santi.
Even before the recent typhoons, however, the price of wellmilled rice shot up to as much as P37 to P39 per kilo, amid allegations of farmers’ groups that rice cartels had been buying rice and hoarding it to create artificial shortage to justify more rice importation.
Villacorta said that the damages caused by recent typhoons have affected the price of rice after it went down previously. He said that projections for total rice production in Central Luzon this year would remain at last year’s level at 3.2 million metric tons.
The current minimum wage in Central Luzon which took effect on Oct. 11 last year integrated the workers’ P24 cost of living allowance (COLA) to their minimum wage on top of P6 more for those employed by firms with assets over P30 million.
The wages differ according to whether the workers are employed in agricultural, non-agricultural or retail or service firms. At present, non-agricultural workers of firms with assets worth over P30 million are entitled to P336 basic daily pay.
Those employed in agriculture are entitled to P306 daily in plantations, and P290 daily for non-plantation workers. In Aurora province, plantation workers should get P270 daily, while non-plantation workers should get P258.
For those in retail or service firms with more than 16 workers, the minimum pay is P325 daily, while those working for firms with less than 16 workers are entitled to P311.
