TACURONG CITY (MindaNews / 18 December) – Kasambahays or domestic workers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will receive a monthly increase of P500 starting this month, officials said.
This will bring the minimum monthly salary for kasambahays to P5,500.
The Bangsamoro Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (BTWPB), an agency under the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE), on Wednesday approved Wage Order No. BARMM-DW-02, which adjusted the monthly wage for domestic workers.
Labor Minister Muslimin Sema said the wage increase reflects the Bangsamoro Government’s adherence to fair labor standards, stressing that domestic work is dignified work and therefore deserves a dignified wage.
“The ministry (would like to) emphasize that fair compensation must go hand in hand with safe and humane working conditions, including regular rest days, nutritious food, decent sleeping quarters, and protection of the rights and welfare of household workers. MOLE calls on employers to fully comply with this wage adjustment,” Sema said in a statement.
Bailyn Nanding, BTWPB secretary, said the board conducted a motu proprio (on its own) review on the minimum wage of kasambahays in the region.
Public consultations were conducted where suggestions from the management and labor sectors were taken into consideration, she added.
Nanding said that data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority, and the Ministry of Trade, Investments, and Tourism were presented during the consultations in the different parts of the region.
The BARMM straddles the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato, the seat of Bangsamoro government.
The wage order would take effect 15 days after its publication, which would be within this month, in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the BARMM, Nanding said.
Last June, the BTWPB also adjusted the daily rates for minimum wage earners in the private sector by P50.
In Cotabato City, the daily minimum wage in the non-agricultural sector is P411 and P386 for the agriculture sector. In the Special Geographic Area, the daily pay is P391 for non-agriculture workers and P366 for agriculture workers.
For the rest of the Bangsamoro region, the daily salary is P386 for those in the non-agriculture sector and P376 for the agriculture sector.
In neighboring Region 12 or Soccsksargen, the minimum monthly pay for domestic workers is P6,000. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
