Bien-Cebu files petition for P1,200 daily wage
The BPO Industry Employees’ Network (Bien-Cebu) filed a petition on June 17 with the Department of Labor and Employment and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board 7, seeking a P1,200 daily minimum wage for all private-sector workers in Central Visayas, according to a Sunstar Cebu report.
Central Visayas posted 10.8% inflation in May, the highest in the country for a tenth straight month, according to Philippine Statistics Authority data cited in the petition. Food inflation reached 17.9%, and some vegetable prices rose as much as 54% year over year. The current regional minimum wage sits between P500 and P540 a day.
“Upskilling is not the issue. It is low wages,” Bien-Cebu president Kyle Enero said in a statement, adding that many workers already perform duties beyond their job descriptions without corresponding pay increases.
Employers push upskilling over a higher wage floor
Industry leaders argue that a steep wage hike could hurt Cebu’s standing compared to other outsourcing markets. Darwin John Moises, vice president of the Cebu IT-BPM Organization, said businesses are managing rising operating costs while competing against hubs in India, Vietnam, and Latin America.
He said upskilling workers into higher-value roles in artificial intelligence, analytics, and cybersecurity offers a more sustainable path to higher pay.
Wage debate signals a broader regulatory shift
The petition coincides with two other developments that outsourcing clients should watch. A proposed Magna Carta for BPO workers would limit prolonged floating status, require continued medical benefits during bench periods, provide a guaranteed living allowance during bench periods, and set a nationwide minimum starting salary for the industry.
Separately, House Bill 8189, the BPO Workers Welfare Act, targets algorithmic management. It would require companies to disclose how automated systems evaluate employee performance, a response to concerns that opaque monitoring software increasingly shapes promotions, discipline, and terminations.
Cebu employs around 160,000 full-time BPO employees, about 15% of the national industry workforce, according to Contact Center Association of the Philippines president Haidee Enriquez.
The petition signals a shifting cost and compliance environment in a major outsourcing hub. Companies sourcing talent from the Philippines should factor it into workforce planning, regardless of the outcome.
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