Calzon Workers to Get Higher Pay Starting Oct. 26
Key Takeaways
- •New Calabarzon wage orders take effect Oct. 26, raising domestic workers' monthly minimum by P750 to P7,500 and private sector daily wages by P25 to P45.
- •Non-agricultural workers in urban hubs will earn up to P645 daily, while workers in other major towns and smaller municipalities will receive P590 and P550 respectively.
- •Agricultural workers and employees of small retail or service businesses with 10 or fewer workers will have a P550 daily minimum after increases of up to P42.
- •Labor groups rejected the adjustments, noting Calabarzon's top rate trails Metro Manila's P755 baseline by P110 and covers barely half of IBON Foundation's estimated P1,223 daily family living wage.
- •The Calabarzon orders represent the third minimum wage determination the 2026 review cycle, following adjustments in Metro Manila and Central Visayas.
Workers in the Philippines' Calabarzon region are set to receive pay increases later this month, after the government approved new regional wage orders that raise the monthly minimum for domestic workers by P750 and daily wages for private sector employees by P25 to P45, effective Oct. 26.
Calabarzon — the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon forming the industrial corridor just south of Metro Manila — sets its pay floors through a regional tripartite wage board, part of a wage-setting system that allows minimums to vary across the country.
Under Wage Order No. IVA-DW-06, the minimum monthly wage for domestic workers, known as kasambahay, will rise to P7,500 across all cities and towns in Calabarzon.
For commercial and industrial employees, Wage Order No. IVA-23 provides daily wage adjustments that vary by location, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission, the agency that oversees regional wage-setting nationwide.
Non-agricultural workers in urban hubs will receive the maximum P45 daily increase, bringing their pay to P645 per day. Workers in other major towns will see a P40 rise to P590, while those in smaller municipalities will get a P25 increase, lifting daily pay to P550.
In the agricultural sector, daily rates will climb by P25 to P42, establishing a P550 daily minimum across the region. Small retail and service businesses employing 10 or fewer workers will apply a P42 daily adjustment, raising baseline pay to P550 per day.
For employers across the region's factories, warehouses and service establishments, the orders set the legal wage floor once they take effect.
Labor groups, in separate statements issued over the weekend, pushed back against the approved amounts, which they criticized as inadequate against rising living costs.
The Federation of Free Workers noted that Calabarzon's top rate of P645 trails Metro Manila's P755 baseline, widening the daily regional pay gap to P110.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines condemned the P25-to-P45 increase as insufficient against eroding purchasing power, noting that it covers barely half of the P1,223 daily family living wage estimated by think tank IBON Foundation.
Meanwhile, the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisang Progresibong Manggagawa rejected the wage orders entirely, citing 7.6% provincial inflation and demanding a P200 legislated nationwide wage hike.
The Calabarzon wage orders mark the third minimum wage determination of the 2026 review cycle, following earlier pay adjustments for workers in Metro Manila and Central Visayas. Most of the country's other regional boards have yet to issue their determinations for the cycle.
— Erika Mae P. Sinaking
