Minimum wage earners and domestic workers in Eastern Visayas are set to receive an increase in minimum wage starting December 2025, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Thursday.
The DOLE said that the wage increase will cover an estimated 114,126 minimum wage earners and 57,081 domestic workers. This new pay hike will be effective starting December 8, 2025, based on the Wage Orders Nos. RB VIII-25 and RBVIII-DW-06.
All sectors will get a P35 daily wage increase, which will bring the daily minimum wage at P440 (or P11,477 monthly) for the agriculture sector, cottage and handicraft and retail and service establishments with fewer than 10 employees. Meanwhile, the daily minimum wage for non-agriculture sector and retail and service establishments with more than 10 employees will now receive P470 a day, or P12,259 monthly. The domestic workers, or kasambahays, will also receive a monthly increase of P400 for those based in chartered cities and first-class municipalities, which will bring their monthly salary to P6,400. Those who are in other municipalities will get a P300 monthly wage increase, which will raise their monthly pay to P5,800.
The DOLE also said that about ‘162,501 full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage are also expected to indirectly benefit from wage adjustments at the enterprise level in the said region, arising from the correction of wage distortions.’
Meanwhile, the agency noted that retail and service establishments with not more than 10 employees and enterprises affected by calamities can apply for the exemption of the wage increase until February 5, 2026.
It added that barangay micro business enterprises with valid Certificates of Authority from the Department of Trade and Industry are not covered by the minimum wage law.
‘In deciding the amount of minimum wage increases in the region, RTWPB-VII [Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board] balanced the rights of workers to be protected from unduly low pay and of employers to reasonable profits, as well as the overall development objectives of promoting employment and productivity and preventing inflation,’ the DOLE said.