P50 daily pay hike for minimum wage earners in BARMM

Workers apply for jobs during the June 12, 2025 job fair in General Santos City. In the Bangsamoro region, wage earners in the private sector will receive a daily salary increase of P50. MindaNews photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 28 June) – Minimum wage earners in the private sector in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will receive a P50 daily wage increase to help address the rising cost of living.

This after the Bangsamoro Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (BTWPB), an agency under the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE), approved last June 26 Wage Order No. 04, adjusting the daily salary for private sector minimum wage earners.

MOLE Minister Muslimin Sema, BTWPB chair, said the increase was in response to the rising cost of living, inflationary pressures, and continued calls from workers’ groups for a more livable wage.

“This is how the Bangsamoro government is looking into the condition of each constituent and its assets, its capability to develop as a region, as a government—as aspired to by our people … in establishing peace in Mindanao,” Sema said.

The House of Representatives has approved a P200 daily wage hike earlier this month but the 19th Congress adjourned sine die last June 12 without ratifying the bill. The Senate proposed a P100 wage increase.

However, both chambers of Congress failed to reach a compromise.

Labor union Kilusang Mayo Uno has pushed for a daily salary increase of P1,200 to give private sector workers nationwide a family living wage in the face of rising prices.

Interim Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua, who led the signing ceremony of Bangsamoro Wage Order No. 04, described the increase as “a milestone for the region’s labor force.”

“This P50 increase in the daily minimum wage is ‘historic not only because of its scale, but also because it reflects a deep understanding of the needs of our workers while considering the realities faced by our employers’,” Macacua said.

In Cotabato City, the minimum wage for non-agricultural workers will rise from P361 to P411, while workers in the agricultural sector—including those in plantation, non-plantation, and retail—will receive P386, up from P336.

In other parts of BARMM, the new minimum wage for non-agricultural workers is P386, up from P336. For workers in the agricultural sector, the minimum wage has increased from P326 to P376.

The BARMM also comprises Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur and Marawi City, Basilan and Lamitan City, and Tawi-Tawi.

For workers in the Special Geographic Areas, the minimum wage for non-agricultural workers will increase from P341 to P391, while those in the agricultural and retail sectors will receive P366, up from the previous P316.

Along with Sema, BTWPB board members who served as signatories to the new wage order were Vice Chairperson Minister Abuamri Taddik of the Ministry of Trade, Investments, and Tourism; Vice Chairperson Director-General Engr. Mohajirin Ali of the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority, represented by Chief Rohanisah Rashid; management representative Datu Haron Bandila; and workers’ representatives Engr. Jonathan Acosta and Norlyn Odin.

Wage Order No. BARMM-04 is the result of public consultations, socioeconomic assessments, and deliberations conducted by the BTWPB.

In 2024, the wage board granted a P20 daily increase for private sector minimum wage earners.

The wage increase will take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of regional circulation. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)