EVisayas workers to receive wage hike

EFFECTIVE December, workers from the private sector and domestic helpers or "kasambahay" will start to reap the benefits of another wage increase recently approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of Region 8 (Eastern Visayas).

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma disclosed over the weekend that Wage Order-RB VIII-25 and RBVIII-DW-06 shall take effect on Dec. 8, 2025, 15 days after their publication on Nov. 22, 2025, after it was reviewed and affirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC).

"The daily minimum wage rates in all sectors will increase by P35. Upon implementation of all tranches, this increase will bring the minimum wage to P440 for the agriculture sector, cottage and handicraft, and retail/service establishments employing 10 workers and below, equivalent to P11,477 per month," said Laguesma.

For the non-agriculture sector and retail/service establishments employing 11 workers and above, the minimum wage will increase to P470 a day, equivalent to P12,259 per month,

Domestic workers or "kasambahays," on the other hand, will receive monthly increases of P400 for those in chartered cities and first-class municipalities, and P300 for those in other municipalities. This will raise the sector’s monthly minimum wage rate in the region to P6,400 and P5,800, respectively.

The labor chief said that about 162,501 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage are also expected to indirectly benefit from wage adjustments at the enterprise level in the said region, arising from the correction of wage distortions.

He explained that wage distortions occur when the implementation of a mandated wage increase (i.e. wage order) results in the elimination or severe contraction of intentional quantitative differences in wage or salary rates between and among employee groups in an establishment.

NWPC Advisory 01, Series of 2023, provides guidance to correct possible wage distortions. WILLIAM DEPASUPIL