RTWPB-13 wraps-up series of public hearings
Caraga – The
Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) Caraga conducted its
series of public hearings on minimum wage adjustment for private sectors and
domestic workers.
The public hearings were conducted on
November 18 in Butuan City; November 20 in Agusan del Sur; and November 25 in
Surigao City that were attended by the regional wage board members, together
with representatives from the Philippine Statistics Authority and Department of
Agriculture as resource speakers.
The Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) Caraga Director and RTWPB Caraga Chairperson Joffrey M. Suyao
expressed his appreciation to the participants of the public hearing, both from
the labor sector and management sector, as their insights and suggestions will
help the board in the wage determination process.
During the public hearing,
participants were apprised on the wage history of Caraga, status of wages in
the Philippines, Caraga’s poverty threshold, inflation rate, and other
socio-economic status, consumer price index of basic goods and commodities, and
prices of agricultural products. After the presentation from different
government agencies, the wage board gave each sector the opportunity to be
heard giving basic questions: (1) do you think it’s time to increase the
minimum wage in Caraga; if yes, what do you think should be the additional wage
given to minimum wage earners and if no, why do you think we should not yet
increase the minimum wage in the region.
At the end of the open forum, Dir.
Suyao reminded the participants that they may submit position papers to the
Secretariat within three days from the conduct of the hearing and thanked the
attendees for their active participation.
The regional wage board will convene again to assess the results of the public hearings conducted in the region in line with the omnibus guidelines on minimum wage determination. (Atty. Lorainne D. Sacote, RTWPB Caraga/PIA-Caraga)