CEBU CITY – Workers in Central Visayas are set to get relief.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has approved a new wage order increasing the daily minimum wage by P10 from P37 to P47.
The wage increase will take effect on Oct. 4.
Under Wage Order No. ROVII-26, employees in Class A areas, including highly urbanized cities Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu, as well as component cities Carcar, Danao, Naga, Talisay, and the municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, and San Fernando, the minimum daily pay will increase from P501 to P540.
For Class B areas, covering Bohol province and other localities outside Metro Cebu, the minimum wage will increase to P500 from P463 or P453.
Public hearings were conducted in Cebu City, Dumaguete City, and Tagbilaran City before the wage increase was approved.
Labor groups sought increases ranging from P1,200 to P1,500 per day but the RTWPB opted for a smaller adjustment after reviewing regional economic indicators.
Among the indicators that were the rise in the Consumer Price Index from 120.7 in October 2024 to 123.9 in August 2025, an average inflation rate of two percent, a drop in the peso’s purchasing power from P0.83 to P0.78, and the 2023 poverty threshold of P473 per day for a family of five, which left two of the three minimum wage rates below the threshold.