DOLE Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma administered the oath of office to the newly appointed Commissioners of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and Board Members of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) on December 1, 2022, at the DOLE Main Building in Intramuros, Manila.

Commissioners Arturo Baesa and Milagros Ogalinda were appointed as workers’ representatives, while Lucila Castillo-Tarriela and Atty. Ranulfo Payos were appointed as employers’ representatives for NWPC.

Appointed commissioners and board members shall serve for five years in the NWPC and RTWPBs, whose mandate is to determine the minimum wage rates applicable in each region in the country and promote wages, income, and productivity improvement in all sectors.

In a statement, Secretary Laguesma urged the representatives to look into the welfare and protection of all workers and the viability and survival of businesses amid the significant increase in the inflation rate.

Present during the oath-taking were Undersecretary Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio, Jr. of the Labor Relations, Policy and International Affairs Cluster, Undersecretary Ciriaco A. Lagunzad III of the General Administration and Regional Operations Cluster and Assistant Secretary Paul Vincent W. Añover of the Employment and Human Resource Development Cluster.