Implement wage hike in Boracay and Aklan — DOLE

ILOILO CITY – Businesses at the world-famous Boracay Island and the rest of Aklan province must now pay its workers the standard salary rate of Western Visayas region, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-6) said.

Cyril Ticao, regional director of DOLE-6, said the companies should have implemented the salary increase starting January 27.

DOLE-6’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-6) granted last year the appeal of Aklan’s business community to put on hold the regional wage increase after the resort island in Malay town was closed to tourists for six months. The moratorium ended last January 26.

But workers in Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental have been entitled to the daily salary increase since July 12, 2018.

DOLE is not yet penalizing businesses that have failed to implement the salary hike in Boracay and the rest of Aklan province.

“We are still giving them a month or so. We understand that businesses are still trying to normalize,” Ticao told the Manila Bulletin.

Boracay reopened to tourists in late October, but the business climate has not been the same. Some resorts, restaurants and shops have not opened. Tourists in the resort island are also limited, with only 6,405 people allowed to enter daily.