Why is there a difference between labor wage in the different regions of the Philippines?

Hi, wmnrulz here. It's been four days since I published this blog and this is my first post.

Recently, I've been listening to the news over the radio, particularly listening to DYAB 1512, - this is a well known radio station here in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. One of the latest issues of today  here in the Philippines talks about raising the labor wage rate in the Philippines. However, sad to say, one of the things that I'm confused with is that, why is there a difference between the labor wage in the different regions of the Philippines?, which is the title of this post and my concern.

Why do I ask such a question? Some people may not know- particularly those who are not from the Philippines- is that there is a huge difference between labor wages in the different regions of the mentioned country. Take for example this research posted on the year 2008 by one of the leading broadcasting stations here in the Philippines: 

Daily minimum wage rates

04/16/2008 | 02:55 PM

  

 

The tables below show the current minimum wage rates in the Philippines, as well as the history of wage increases in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Of all the regions in the Philippines, the NCR has the highest minimum wage rates at P325 for agricultural workers and P325-362 for non-agricultural workers.

Daily Minimum Wage Rages Nationwide current, by region (in pesos) Sources: National Wages and Productivity Commission, BusinessWorld

Region WO No./ Date of Effectivity Non-Agriculture   Agriculture Notes     Plantation   Non-Plantation NCR WO 13/ Aug 28, 2007 325.00-362.00 325.00 P 50.00 per day COLA integrated into basic pay; plus P12 increase CAR WO 12/ Jan 7, 2008 233.00-245.00 216.00 - 227.00 granted P4-P10 COLA per day depending on the area and industry classification I WO 12/ Dec 31, 2007 210.00-230.00 210.00 185.00 P 3-15 wage increase II WO 12/ Nov 25, 2007 215.00-223.00 203.00-211.00 P 5 wage increase III WO 13/ Sep 27, 2007 236.00 - 287.00 221.00 - 257.00 201.00 - 241.00 Granted P 9.00 Cost of Living Allowance IV-A WO 12/ Oct 5, 2007 224.00-300.000 204.00-275.00 184.00-255.00 P 6-13 wage increase IV-B WO 03/ Nov 25, 2007 225.00-237.00 188.00-197.00 168.00-177.00 P 2-16 wage increase V WO 12/ Dec 1, 2007 183.00-226.00 194.00-204.00 174.00-184.00 P 6 wage increase VI WO 15/ Oct 5, 2007 215.00-235.00 195.00-203.00 193.00 P 4-41 wage increase VII WO 13/ Nov 11, 2007 205.00-250.00 185.00-232.00 P 5 & P9 wage increase VIII WO 14/ Dec 16, 2007 228.00 209.00 P 10 additional COLA IX WO 14/ Jan 23, 2008 225.00 200.00 180.00   X WO 13/ Nov 16, 2007 229.00-244.00 217.00-232.00 P 10 additional COLA XI WO 14/ Sep 16, 2007 248.00 - 250.00 238.00 - 240.00 217.00 - 219.00 Granted additional P 10 Cost of Living Allowance XII WO 14/ Oct 8, 2007 229.50 212.00 209.00 P 3-5 additional Cost of Living Allowance XIII WO 08/ Nov 7, 2007 220.00 210.00 190.00 P 6 COLA ARMM WO 10/ Jan 4, 2008 200.00 200.00 200.00

Daily minimum wage rates in Metro Manila (NCR) past and current (in pesos) Source: National Wages and Productivity Commission, BusinessWorld

RA/ Wage Order Effectivity date  Amount Basic Wage Allowance Total agri non-agri agri non-agri RA 6727 1-Jul-1989 89.00   89.00 WO 01 1-Nov-1990 106.00   106.00 WO 02 8-Jan-1991 118.00   118.00 WO 03 16-Dec-1993 135.00   135.00   1-Apr-1994 145.00   145.00 WO 04 2-Feb-1996 161.00   161.00   1-May-1996  165.00    165.00 WO 05 6-Feb-1997 180.00   180.00   1-May-1997 185.00   185.00 WO 06 6-Feb-1998 198.00   198.00 WO 07 Oct 31,1999 198.00 223.50   198.00 223.50 WO 08 1-Nov-2000 213.00 250.00   213.00 250.00 WO 09 5-Nov-2001 213.00 250.00 15.00 228.00 265.00   1-Feb-2002 213.00 250.00 30.00 243.00 280.00  WO 10 10-Jul-2004 213.00 250.00 50.00 263.00 300.00 WO 11 16-Jun-2005 238.00 275.00 50.00 288.00 325.00 WO 12 July 2006 263.00 300.00 50.00 313.00 350.00 WO 13 6-Aug-2007 263.00 300.00 50.00 + 12.00 325.00 362.00

See for the original site: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/89669/Daily-minimum-wage-rates

So you see, that was most of the wage increases here in the Philippines since 2008. This year 2011, as I've heard on the the news, the Wage Board is planning to again increase the wage rate. However, others may rejoice from this news but others are saddened.

As of this year , for example , Manila ( located in the NCR) has a minimum wage rate of around Php424 and is to be increased by the adoption of the COLA ( Cost of Living Allowance ) granting a Php22 increase on the take-home pay . This COLA is not an ECOLA ( Emergency Cost of Living Allowance) which can be easily removed or not paid by the employers if the emergency is gone. However, when it comes to overtime pay  the basis would be the minimum wage rate without the COLA multiplied by the appropriate overtime percentage for the worker to get his/her take-home pay. Happy are those who work in the NCR and how unfortunate are those in the other regions. Here in Cebu,located in the Region 7-Central Visayas Region of the Philippines, where I happen to live, the minimum wage  is Php285. Sadly, the Regional Wage Board and most of the  employers, despite the clamor from the employess  for an increase due to increasing prices of the different goods  also  opt for a no increase. Tsk..Tsk.

So, I just want to hear out what you think of this situation?