The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPBs) in Regions II and XII issued wage orders for private establishment and domestic workers, while RTWPB III issued a wage order for workers in the private establishments.

In accordance with existing laws and procedures, the wage orders were submitted to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and were affirmed on 26 September 2023.

RTWPB – II Wage Orders

RTWPB II (Cagayan Valley) motu proprio issued Wage Order No. RTWPB 2-22 on 21 September 2023, providing a P30 increase to be given in two equal tranches upon effectivity (first tranche) and on 01 April 2024 (second tranche). After full implementation of the tranches, the minimum wage rates in the region will be P450 for non-agriculture and P430 for agriculture establishments.

In a parallel effort to improve the wages of the domestic workers, RTWPB II also issued Wage Order No. 02-DW-05 granting a monthly increase of P500 bringing the monthly wage rate of domestic workers in the region to P5,500.

RTWPB – III Wage Order

RTWPB III (Central Luzon), by virtue of a petition, issued Wage Order No. RBIII-24 on 19 September 2023, granting a P40 increase for workers in non-agriculture, agriculture, and retail/service establishments. The new wage rates in the region shall be as follows:

RTWPB – XII Wage Orders

RTWPB XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) motu proprio issued Wage Order No. RB XII-23 on 21 September 2023 granting a P35 increase to workers in the non-agriculture, agriculture, and service/retail establishments to be given in two tranches, P22 (first tranche) upon effectivity and P13 (second tranche) on 01 January 2024. After full implementation, the daily minimum wage rates in the region will be P403 for non-agriculture, and P382 for agriculture, and service/retail.

RTWPB XII also issued Wage Order No. RB XII-DW-04, granting a monthly increase of P500, bringing the monthly wage rate of domestic workers in the region to P5,000 in the cities and first-class municipalities, and P4,500 to other municipalities in the region.

All wage orders will be published on 30 September 2023, and shall take effect after 15 days or on 16 October 2023.

The new wage orders for workers in the private establishments are expected to directly benefit 682,117 minimum wage earners across three (3) regions, and about 1.5M full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may indirectly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from wage distortion corrections.

The wage orders issued for the domestic workers in Regions II and XII are expected to benefit a total of 75,853 domestic workers where 25% (19,040) of which are in live-in arrangements, and 75% (56,813) are live-out.

The increases, which considered the various wage determination criteria provided under Republic Act No. 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act, either resulted from the motu proprio act of the Board or petitions filed by labor groups seeking an increase in the daily minimum wage due to escalating prices of basic goods and commodities. Each Board, comprised of representatives from the government, management, and labor sectors, conducted public hearings and wage deliberations.

As in any wage order, and as provided for in the NWPC Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination, retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than ten (10) workers, and enterprises affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters may apply to the RTWPB for exemption from the wage increase. Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) are not covered by the minimum wage law pursuant to Republic Act No. 9178 [2002].

The RTWPBs shall undertake information campaigns to ensure compliance and to provide assistance to enterprises in correcting possible wage distortions. For exemption applications and further clarifications on the wage order, the RTWPBs may also be reached through the following email addresses:

Except for the wage order for domestic workers in Region XII which took effect in July 2022, all the last wage orders in the three regions became effective in June 2022.