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MANILA, Philippines – Private sector workers in Metro Manila will get an additional P30 daily cost of living allowance (Cola) after the regional wage board approved the increase, the labor chief announced on Friday, May 18.
At the same time, the wage board ordered the integration of the P22 Cola it approved last year into the daily minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), bringing the wage to P426 from P404 per day.
“DOLE-NCR Regional Director Atty. Alan Macaraya, chairman of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board-NCR has reported to me that the wage board yesterday approved Wage Order NCR-17 which provides for a P30 daily Cola and for the integration of the P22 Cola into the basic pay,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
“The wage board has decided to provide workers with the pay increase to enable them to cope with the rising cost of living, taking into consideration, among other factors, the viability of business and industry, and the average inflation rate of basic prime commodities for the period June 2011 to April 2012,” Baldoz said.
The wage board’s decision came after several consultations and public hearings on a petition of labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) for a P90 daily wage hike in NCR.
While the TUCP welcomed the integration of the P22 Cola in the basic pay, it said it will appeal the P30 allowance.
“We petitioned for a P90 wage increase to narrow the gap between the basic minimum pay of P426 and the family living wage in NCR which is P993,” it said in a statement.
“It is very clear that the wage board does not seriously take into account the lives of the workers,” the group added.
Baldoz said the P30 Cola will be implemented in two tranches: the first upon effectivity of the wage order 15 days from publication in a national newspaper, and the second on Nov. 1, 2012.
Last year, the wage board’s approved Cola of P22 was not included in the computation of workers’ overtime, holiday, night shift, 13 month and retirement pays. – Rappler.com
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