Decision on minimum wage hike petitions out before May —DOLE exec

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) expects to come up with a decision on petitions to raise minimum wages across the country before May, a top official of the agency said Saturday.

“Kumikilos na ang mga regional wage board… Nagbigay na tayo ng gabay sa kanila at may utos na rin si Secretary Bello na pabilisin ang proseso,” DOLE Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(Regional wage boards are working on it. We have given the guidance to them, and Secretary Bello has a marching order to expedite the process.)

“Bago ang Mayo, malalaman na ang desisyon kaugnay sa wage increase petitions” (Before May, we will know the decision), Tutay said.

Labor unions alliance Unity for Wage Increase Now! had staged a rally at the National Capital Region Wage Board office to press for the approval of their petition for a P750 minimum wage.

Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) appealed for a P470 increase in the National Capital Region's daily minimum wage to make it P1,007.

Earlier, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards across the country to review minimum wages.

Bello had said the current P537 daily minimum wage in the NCR may no longer be enough to cover commodities such as food, electricity, and water bills.

Malacañang has supported Bello's review. —LBG/KG, GMA News