Cagayan Valley workers seek P100 daily wage hike; employers oppose

CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela — Workers in Cagayan Valley are seeking a P100 increase in the basic daily wage, while employers are pushing to keep the current P500 minimum wage for private-sector workers.

The competing positions were laid out during a Sept. 24 public hearing at the Isabela provincial capitol, where employee representatives said the current wage has not kept pace with rising costs, while employers cited high production costs, a slowdown in trade and the risk of workforce reductions if wages increase.

Employee representative Johnny Alvaro said the P500 daily minimum wage for agriculture and non-agriculture sectors, imposed in November 2025 by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), has not been sufficient to meet workers’ needs.

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The current minimum wage was a bump up from the P460 daily wage in 2014, reflecting a P40 increase.

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“We are positive we would get a minimum wage hike with the increasing prices of basic commodities, oil prices, and transportation expenses,” he told reporters on Thursday.

READ: Dole: NCR wage board awaiting NWPC’s decision on new increase order

Vivian Briones, principal of Magsaysay High School in Santo Tomas, Isabela, said raising wages would force layoffs.

“The effect here is if we have a very huge hike for employees and our student population will decrease, we will be forced to reduce the number of regular employees,” Briones said during the consultation.

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She added that minimum wage hikes “would automatically increase premiums and employers’ share for Social Security System, PhilHealth, and other obligatory benefits.”

But Jocelyn Labasan, an accountant at Surdiacan Health Care in Isabela, said the proposed wage hike would help pay for increasing expenses for food and other obligations.

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“[The proposed P100 minimum wage] is not an additional perk for us. It is needed so we can provide decent living for our respective families,” she said.

During the public hearing, government stakeholders outlined a low poverty incidence in Cagayan Valley, from 6.7 percent in 2012 to 4.4 percent in 2025.

Labor officials noted that at least 257,000 people or 44,000 families living below the poverty threshold in Cagayan Valley must have an average monthly income of P15,273, or P502 in revenues per day, to survive while spending on food and other household needs.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s Average Family Income and Expenditures data says a household should have earned at least an average annual income of P322,000 in 2023 and P411,000 in 2025.

The region’s gross regional domestic product has increased from P421 billion in 2024 to P490 billion in 2025.

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Cagayan Valley has a 95.5 percent employment rate or a workforce of 83,000 employees, but has 35,000 unemployed, while its underemployment has been pegged at 26.5 percent or 32,000. /mcm