MANILA — The regional wage boards of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Caraga have approved an increase in the salary of minimum earners there, the labor department has announced.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the Ilocos Region's wage board approved an increase of between P60 and P90 "in 2 to 3 tranches."

Once implemented, the minimum wage range in Ilocos will be P372-P400, from the current P282-P340, the agency said.

Aside from this, the wage board approved a monthly wage hike of between P500 and P1,500 for domestic workers located in cities and first-class municipalities, setting the new monthly rate at P5,000.

Cagayan Valley's wage board likewise approved a P50 to P75 wage hike, which will be implemented in 2 to 3 tranches. This brings the region's minimum wage rate to P400-P420, from the present P345-P370.

The wage board in Caraga, meanwhile, agreed a P30-wage hike for minimum wage earners in the region, raising the monthly minimum rate to P350 from the current P320.

• DOLE: NCR wage board grants P33 pay hike for minimum earners

The P30 wage increase for private sector workers will be implemented in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Surigao del Sur once the order becomes effective, DOLE said.

For private workers in Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, and Siargao Islands, the wage hike will happen in aggregate — a P20 increase once the order becomes effective, and another P10 starting September.

"Ito po with selected provinces affected by typhoons na ibibigay po in tranches. So sa kabuuan sa Caraga, pagkatapos ng implementation ng minimum wage order ay makakatanggap sila ng P350," noted Maria Criselda Sy, executive director of the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

(We will also give this to Caraga and select provinces affected by typhoons but in tranches. They will receive P350.)

The wage increase in other regions will take effect 15 days after it gets published in a newspaper of regional circulation.

WILL OTHER REGIONAL BOARDS OK WAGE INCREASE?

Sy said 12 regional tripartite wage boards were in the final stages of deliberating wage increases, and their decision will be made public in the coming days.

Raising the minimum wage, she explained, will depend on the needs of workers, their families, the employers' capacity, and the region's economic developments.

"Ngayon, we are in the process of recovery. Kaya maingat na maingat po 'yung pagsusuri lalo ng socioeconomic situation ng ating mga regions para po masunod ito pong mga criteria sa pagtatakda ng minimum wage," she said in a televised briefing.

(We are in the process of recovery. So we are careful with this, most especially given the socioeconomic situation in our regions so we can follow the criteria in setting a minimum wage.)

The official estimated that some 3.6 million minimum wage earners in the country will benefit from the wage hike if all regional boards approve it.

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This comes after the Metro Manila wage board over the weekend approved a P33 increase for minimum-wage earners in the region, bumping up the regional rate for non-agricultural jobs to P570.

Western Visayas' wage board had also granted a salary increase for workers in the non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments of P55 and P110, respectively, bringing the daily minimum wage for the sectors in the region to P450 and P420.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion earlier appealed for micro businesses to be exempted from the wage hike's citing their "struggles" in the pandemic.

• Exemption sa wage hike para sa maliliit na negosyo hiniling

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines, meanwhile, said businesses with less than 10 employees or establishments who are members of the barangay micro business enterprises (BMBE) are exempted from the wage hike.

• ECOP: Businesses with less than 10 employees may be exempted from wage hike