The Senate has called on Malacañang to unveil the pay- hike package it is proposing for the nation’s civil servants, if any, so that it can be studied in earnest by Congress and by the state employees themselves.
The call was made by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto, who said that “serious discussions” on adjusting government pay should go hand in hand with the 2016 national budget deliberations.
“We should go beyond hints and teasers, and start tackling proposals on the table,” Recto stressed.
Last week Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad was reported as “hinting” that a round of salary adjustments in the public sector “is possible” before President Aquino steps down from office in June next year.
Government pay is governed by the Salary Standardization law (SSL). The last and third edition of the SSL was enacted in 2009, and was implemented in four annual tranches, which ended in 2012.
According to Recto, an “SSL IV” is needed, “but crafting it requires a thorough review and broad consultation.”
“One critical aspect is the funding—the clear sources of funds—must be identified. It is easy to pick a figure. The challenge is to raise the cash to fund the increase,” he said. On this, Recto said “a budget space” can be created out of next year’s proposed P3-trillion appropriations.
“Kayang gawan ng paraan kung talagang gusto,” Recto said.
He stressed that any pay hike should prioritize teachers, policemen, firemen and soldiers, as they constitute about four-fifths of the government work force.
“Ito ’yung Police Officer 1, Teacher 1, Firemen 1. They’re mostly clustered around the Salary Grade 11 to 13 brackets. They get a basic monthly pay of between P18,549 and P21,436. These are the people who are in need of a salary hike,” he said.
At present, the government’s “Compensation and Position Classification System” has 33 salary grades. Except for Grade 33, which is occupied by one person, the President, each salary grade has eight steps. “So there are a total of 257 pay categories which must be studied and adjusted. There must be distinctions and differentiation between and within the salary grades,” Recto said.
“What makes the job harder is that all of these 257 pay categories must be accommodated within a ceiling, which at present is P120,000 a month—the salary the President gets,” he said.
At the other end of the spectrum is the P9,000 monthly salary of a Salary Grade 1, Step 1 holder, the entry-level position in the government.
Paying the salaries of these employees plus military pensioners and veterans cost P746 billion at present. This expense class is called in budgeting as Personal Services (PS).
With the hiring of more personnel, mostly teachers, plus a rise in the number of uniformed personnel pensioner, PS expenses will rise to P810.8 billion next year.
At present, there are 1,433,186 permanent positions in the national government plantilla.
“Dahil sa laki ng bilang ng empleyado ng gobyerno, when we plan any increase in pay, we should be mindful of the fact that any increase in the salaries of government workers will be shouldered ultimately by their employers—the people,” Recto said.
PS costs have grown by 77.2 percent since 2010, from P457.6 billion to the proposed P810.8 billion in the 2016 budget.
Priority bill
Two lawmakers urged President Aquino on Tuesday to include in his priority bills the measure granting salary increases to the 1.6 million government workers.
Lakas Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte and Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela said that the salary increases for public employees should be included in the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016. “The government should find clear sourcing of funds to increase the wages of our state workers. This must be included on the list of priorities,” Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association said.
“Let us make the government compensation system competitive with the private sector. We should attract competent civil servants and prevent the exodus of professionals seeking better paying jobs abroad,” he added.
Albano said the proposed pay increase for all government workers is one of the commitments made by the President to his “bosses” when he assumed office in 2010.
“Making good on his commitment to the country’s 1.6 million state workers as he ends his term next year would be one of many fitting accomplishments of President Aquino that would concretely prove that he cares and is sensitive to the plight of his bosses,” Albano, a member of the House Minority Bloc, said.
(With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz)
5 comments
The government should find clear sourcing of fund to increase the wages of our state workers. This must be included in the list of priorities under the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016…
they should attract competent civil servants and prevent the exodus of professionals seeking better paying jobs abroad.
“One critical aspect is the funding the clear sources of funds must be identified. It is easy to pick a figure. The challenge is to raise the cash to fund the increase.
Mukhang MALABO na ito.. Matatapos Termino nya well sana mabigyan tugon ito at magbigay sila ng KonsiDerasyon sa mga Empleyado ng Gov.
This will help uplift the standard of living of government workers.