By PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said on Friday the minimum wage earners in Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) will receive pay adjustments following a new wage order issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-10 (RTWPB-X).

Baldoz said this over national television when she guested at the “Pilipinas Natin Pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) Human Development Cluster Presentation” at the National Broadcasting Network (NBN)-Channel 4 studio in Quezon City.

“The Regional Tripartite Board in Northern Mindanao yesterday issued Wage Order No. RX-16 which granted
a P17 cost-of-living allowance (COLA) to all minimum wage earners. The COLA will be integrated in the basic pay after six months,” Baldoz said.

For the first six months, the minimum wage rates in the non-agricultural sector in Northern Mindanao under Wage Category I (comprising the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan; and the municipalities of Tagoloan, Villanueva, and Jasaan) will be P286, while those in the agriculture sector will be P274.

Those under Wage Category II (comprising the cities of Malaybalay, Valencia, Gingoog, El Salvador, and Ozamiz; and the municipalities of Maramag, Quezon, and Manolo Fortich) will be P281; while those in the agriculture sector will be P269.

Non-agricultural workers under Wage Category III (comprising the cities of Oroquieta and Tangub; and the municipalities of Lugait, Opol, and Mambajao) will receive P276, while those in the agriculture sector in the same category will receive P264.

Meanwhile, non-agriculture workers under Wage Category IV (areas which are not covered by the previous categories) will receive P271, while those in agriculture sector will receive P259.

Wage earners in the sugar agricultural industry who are covered by Supplemental Wage Order No. RX-15 that took effect on February 17, 2011 will have a minimum wage rate of P259.

The latest wage order, according to Baldoz, shall apply to all minimum wage earners in the private sector in the region “regardless of their position, designation or status, and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid.”

The new wage order, however, does not cover household or domestic helpers and workers who are in the personal service of another, including family drivers and workers of registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) hired after its effectivity.

National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) Executive Director Ciriaco Lagunzad III said that the wage order also encouraged businesses to adopt productivity improvement schemes, such as time and motion studies, good housekeeping, labor management cooperation, and gain-sharing programs to sustain rising levels of wages and enhance competitiveness.

“The NWPC shall provide companies the necessary studies and technical assistance pursuant to R.A. 697 or the Productivity Incentives Act of 1990,” he said.

The wage order for Northern Mindanao brings to five the number of regional tripartite wage boards that have mandated wage rate increases since May 1. The other regions are the National Capital Region, Region III (Central Luzon), Region VI (West Visayas), and Region VIII (Eastern Visayas).