By Henry Empeño / Correspondent
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Workers at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) are celebrating a long-sought for salary adjustment that finally released them from the ranks of poorly paid civil servants.
Employees of the state-owned agency broke into cheers here on Wednesday, as SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia announced the good news from his meeting with the President in Malacañang the previous day. President Aquino approved the SBMA workers’ salary adjustment.
“This is a day of celebration,” Garcia said, explaining that Mr. Aquino approved the proposed fourth tranche of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL 3) for the SBMA, after getting assurance that the agency can implement the pay hike without subsidy from the national government.
“It was a long process for us, but we are still fortunate because we were able to get SSL 3, tranche 4 in just one year,” Garcia said.
Garcia also said because of the long delay since their last increase in 2008, SBMA employees will get a 30-percent salary increase, with the lowest rate of increase at 18 percent.
Garcia also asked the employees to thank those who helped the SBMA lobby for the SSL approval. These include former Interior Sec. Manuel A. Roxas II, who Garcia said personally endorsed the SBMA letter of request to the President; Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun of Zambales First District, and Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino.
Meanwhile, SBMA Employees Association (SEA) President Elmer Libo congratulated Garcia for having successfully endorsed the proposed adjustment before the election ban took effect.
“We are happy and would like to thank President Aquino for finally approving the SSL 3, tranche 4 for SBMA employees,” Libo said. “This will not only boost the morale of the employees and inspire them to become more productive, but will also directly improve the lives of our families.”
The SBMA employees had agitated for the adjustment in their salaries since February last year and had resorted to making pleas and protests alike for Malacañang to heed their request.
But SBMA officials said that even when funding for the increase has already been allocated, the same cannot be released without approval by President Aquino.
Agency officials also said that the Department of Budget and Management had given preconditions for the implementation of the adjustment: that SBMA can comply with the reorganization requirements of the Office of the President; that it can freely support the same; and that in no case shall subsidy be granted by the national government to SBMA to cover the funding requirement for the salary adjustment.
Garcia said that since SBMA is self-sustaining, it has not received a single peso of subsidy from the national government.
He said that the Subic agency had contributed P19 billion to the national government in 2015, which consisted of customs and tax collections, as well as local government shares and dividends.