PRIVATE SECTOR minimum wage workers in Region XII, also known as Soccsksargen, were granted an increase in wages nearly two years since their last wage hike.

The Department of Labor and Employment Region 12 (DoLE-12) said workers will be granted a wage increase of P25 in two tranches this year. The first tranche will begin next month while the second tranche is due on May 1.

“(W)orkers in the Non-Agriculture Sector shall be paid P326.00 pesos upon the effectivity of the wage order and P336.00 effective May 1, 2020 while workers in the Agriculture/Retail/Service sector shall be paid P305.00 upon the effectivity of the Order and P315.00 effective May 1, 2020,” DoLE-12 Director Sisinio B. Cano said in a statement.

The wage board last issued a wage order on May 11, 2018. The old minimum wage was at P290 to P311.

The new daily wages were approved on Dec. 16, 2019 by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-12). According to a report by the Mindanao Daily Mirror dated Jan. 24, the new wage order was published on Jan. 18 and will take effect in February.

Once the wage order takes effect, DoLE-12 said that the first tranche will be a P15.00 daily wage increase. The second tranche in May will be a P10 hike.

The wage order covers the entire region — South Cotabato province, Sultan Kudarat, Koronadal City, Sarangani, and General Santos City — except Cotabato City, which voted to be part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) through a plebiscite last year.

Inflation in Soccsksargen was 6.2% in 2018, above the 2018 headline national inflation rate of 5.2%; and 2.8% in 2019, a little over the 2019 national average of 2.5%. — Gillian M. Cortez

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