By Chino S. Leyco The Duterte administration plans to implement ahead of the schedule the fifth round of increase in government workers’ salaries, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced. Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III (Bloomberg photo) Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that President Rodrigo R. Duterte will propose to Congress a legislation seeking to implement the fifth salary standardization law (SSL-5). “We’re done with the SSL-4, normally we would have waited three- or four-years before moving up to SSL-5, however, the President decided that they will propose an SSL-5 and that it will be legislated,” Dominguez told reporters late Tuesday. According to Dominguez, he already sought the opinion of Department of Budget and Management Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel about the planned SSL-5, and the latter confirmed that the measure is “well within” their budget. “We have done the very rough numbers as to the proposed legislation and we can afford it,” Dominguez said without providing the initial estimated figures. Unlike the SSL-4 that was implemented through an executive order by former President Benigno Aquino III, Dominguez said President Duterte wants the fifth round of salary increase to be legislated, citing the difficulty an EO where “you can change it very quickly.” In his state of the nation address, President Duterte appealed to Congress to pass a new SSL and include a pay raise for public school teachers and nurses. In 2015, the Aquino administration approved the SSL that mandated a four-year salary increase to the basic salaries of government employees. The compensation adjustment already ends this year.