By Tara Yap
Iloilo City — World-famous Boracay Island and the rest of Aklan province will not implement the daily wage hike, which takes effect in Western Visayas region on July 12.
“The closure of Boracay was taken into consideration,” said Atty. Johnson Cañete, regional director of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-6).
Cañete said that DOLE-6’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-6) granted the appeal of the Aklan business community, which is adversely affected by the six-month closure of the country’s top tourist destination.
“They (the Aklan businesses) were the collateral damage,” added Cañete during a Thursday press conference.
RTWPB-6 decided that the regional wage increase will only be implemented in Aklan province starting November.
For Boracay, Cañete said the wage hike will only be implemented three months after its formal opening.
“But that depends if Boracay will open by end of October, early November or next year,” Cañete noted.
Last month, the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) granted the petition for a wage increase filed earlier this year by the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (PACIWU-TUCP).
Daily salary of workers in Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental provinces will range from P295 to P365. The current daily salary ranges P271.50 to P323.50.
Meanwhile, DOLE-6 will be sending out inspectors to randomly check if private companies are implementing the wage increase.