By Leslie Ann Aquino
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said at a press briefing Tuesday that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board – National Capital Region (NCR) has approved the granting of a P1,500 wage increase to domestic workers in Metro Manila.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(ROBINSON NIÑAL JR. / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
But he clarified this is still up for final approval by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.
"Doon sa wage board regional inapprove na, pero dadaan pa sa national for final approval (The regional wage board already approved it but it will still go to the national wage board for final approval)," Bello said.
If approved, the monthly minimum wage for kasambahays (domestic workers) will be set at P5,000.
"The regional tripartite wage board here in Metro Manila submitted a wage adjustment of, I think, P1,500 for Metro Manila. So originally it was P3,500 for our kasambahay in Metro Manila, it is now P 5,000 for our kasambahays," Bello said.
He admitted that this figure is less than he anticipated.
"It is way below my expectation because when I met with our director Criselda Sy, I…suggested that for Metro Manila its good if we peg the minimum wage of our kasambahays to P6,000," said Bello.
"Pero siyempre hindi mo naman puwede diktahan yung regional tripartite wage board (But of course you cannot dictate to the regional tripartite wage board). So we have a recommendation, which is a wage adjustment of P1,500 - from P3,500 to P5,000," he added.
Based on Republic Act 10361 or the Domestic Workers Act, the minimum monthly salary of domestic workers in the NCR was set at P2,500 per month.
In December 2017, the NCR Wage Board approved a P1,000 increase in salary for domestic workers, raising their minimum monthly salary to P3,500.