BARMM WAGE HIKE. Minister Romeo K. Sema of the Ministry of Labor and Employment – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao announced during a press conference Thursday (Nov. 14, 2019) the first-ever wage increase order for workers in the region. The recommended wage hike is still subject for approval by BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim and set for implementation by January 2020. (Photos courtesy of MOLE-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – Members of the Bangsamoro Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BTWPB-BARMM) issued on Thursday its first-ever wage order that provides for an increase in workers pay at the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors of the region.
Wage Order No. BARMM-01 provides that all minimum wage earners of the private sector in the BARMM shall receive a basic wage increase of PHP20.00 per day for the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan.
For Cotabato City and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato, those in the non-agriculture sector shall receive a PHP14.00 daily wage, while the agriculture sector shall receive a PHP10.00 wage increase per day.
“All of this, however, is yet subject for approval by BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim,” said Romeo K. Sema, BARMM’s minister of the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE).
Once approved, the order would set the new minimum wage for the non-agriculture and agriculture sector at PHP300/day and PHP290/day, respectively, for the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan.
While for Cotabato City and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato, the new minimum wage for non-agriculture and agriculture sector would be at PHP325/day and PHP300/day, respectively.
Sema added that the new wage order would also be subjected to publication in local and major dailies for the benefit of the BARMM workers.
Sema said that as per Section 13 of the wage order, “any person, corporation, trust or firm, partnership, association or entity which refuses or fails to comply with this order, shall be subjected to the penal provisions under R.A. 6727, as amended by R.A. 8188.”
The new wage order is a product of various public consultations organized by the BTWPB-BARMM that was participated in by representatives from the employers and workers sector of the region.
The wage hike is expected to be implemented in January next year. (PNA)
