R20 daily wage increase approved in BARMM

COTABATO CITY – Minimum wage earners in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will receive R20 daily income increase starting this month, the BARMM’s Bureau of Public Information (BPI) said Friday.

In a statement, the BPI said the Bangsamoro Tripartite Wages and

Productivity Board’s (BTWPB) approved Wage Order No. BARMM-01 on November 13, 2019, and warned of penal consequence for non-observing employers.

Wage Order No. BARMM01, which provides a new minimum wage increase for non-agriculture and agriculture sectors in the Bangsamoro region, was issued by the BTWPBBARMM on Thursday, November 14.

The new regional wage order provides that all minimum wage earners of the private sector in non-agriculture and agriculture categories in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi provinces and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan – all BARMM components shall receive a basic wage increase of R20.

This means that the previous

R280-R270 daily wages in such areas shall now be R300/day and R290/day for non-agriculture and agriculture sector, respectively, the BPI said.

Wage earners in Cotabato City and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato, which are now BARMM components, shall receive R14 wage hike for nonagriculture, while the agriculture sector shall receive a R10 wage increase per day, the BPI statement added.

The regional wage order does not apply to family drivers, those employees in the personal service of another, and workers in registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises with Certificates of Authority pursuant to RA 9178, the BPI said.

Establishments engaged in retail business employing not more than 10 workers; distressed establishments; infant business enterprises; and establishments adversely affected by natural and man-made calamities are exempted from the order, the BPI said.