BACOLOD CITY – About half a million salaried workers in Western Visayas or Region 6 can expect pay hikes between P15 to P30 by November 27 as the regional wage board’s new order takes effect.
Wage Order No. 25 was published in newspapers November 11 and takes effect, according to law 15 days later, Wennie Sancho, labor sector representative to the board, told DNX.
As the date of implementation nears, labor leader Ronald Ian Evidente appealed to employers for “generosity” to their workers by complying with the increase.
Evidente, who chairs the Western Visayas Alliance of General Employees (WAGES), said he expects most employers to comply with the order.
“They are mandated by law to implement it and will be held liable if they don’t,” Evidente said but expressed hopes that “in the spirit of the season, they will give the increase to their workers so the Christmas spirit can be more felt.”
The order will benefit workers in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, and Guimaras.
The wage board approved on October 22 the new order that upped wages to a high of P395 to a low of P315, depending on the industry or sector, and the number of workers.
