THE National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) said there are three active regional wage hike petitions as of Monday.
In a briefing, NWPC Executive Director Maria Criselda R. Sy said the petitions are from Region II (Cagayan Valley), National Capital Region (NCR), and Region XI (Davao Region). All three were filed with their respective Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs).
Ms. Sy said the Region II petition filed by the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura is for a “P100 emergency wage relief across the board.”
Ms. Sy added the NCR petition was filed in 2019, with the NCR wage board “still continuing its evaluation. The board will make a decision at an appropriate time.” The NCR petition was filed by Unity for Wage Increase.
The Davao Region wage hike petition, Ms. Sy said, involves a P100 increase in the minimum wage for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.
In a mobile message to reporters Monday, Ms. Sy also said the Davao Region wage petition was refiled by the Association of Democratic Labor Organizations-Kilusang Mayo Uno on April 20 after the initial petition was found non-compliant.
Daily minimum wages in the regions are P500 to P537 for the NCR; P345 to P370 in the Cagayan Valley; and P381 to P396 in Davao Region.
Ms. Sy said at the briefing that the wage petition filed by the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) with the RTWPB of Region IV-A (Calabarzon, or Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) was not included in the list of active petitions because the wage board decided to defer its decision for the meantime. The FFW petitioned in 2019 for an P50.91 to P70.92 increase in the minimum wage, currently at P303 to P400 in Calabarzon. — Gillian M. Cortez