BPO workers seek P800 daily pay in WV

A group of business process outsourcing (BPO) workers is seeking to a P800 daily minimum wage in Western Visayas.

The BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) filed a petition before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-6) in Iloilo City on June 25.

“This demand is rooted in a simple truth: workers can no longer survive on starvation wages while prices of food, electricity, fuel, rent, and other basic necessities continue to rise,” the group said in a statement.

“With inflation accelerating, an energy crisis driving up costs, and the continued erosion of workers’ purchasing power, the evidence is clear–a supervening event exists, and urgent wage relief is necessary,” it added.

Currently, the minimum daily wage rate for private sector workers in the region is P550 (14,346 per month), which is far below the estimated family living wage per day.

“According to the independent socioeconomic research group IBON Foundation, the beverage daily living wage for a family of five members is at least P1,312,” BIEN stated in its petition.

The group found out that many BPO workers in Iloilo take home only about P13,000 per month.

“1.9 million BPO workers alone generated about $40 in revenue in 2025, making BPO Workers’ average production service P1.2 million in a year or P103,000 per month,” BIEN said.

Citing the existence of several “supervening events” to justify the wage adjustment, the group urged RTWPB-6 to act immediately on the petition.IMT