House OKs salary standardization on third and final reading
Published Dec 18, 2019 12:00 am
By Ben Rosario
The House of Representatives last night passed on third and final reading version the fifth sequel of the salary standardization law (SSL) granting the 1.8 million civilian workers in government salary increases to be spread over a four-year period.
House of the Representatives (ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE PHOTO)
Registering 187 affirmative votes and five negative, the Lower House authorized the implementation of SSL 5 which will benefit government employees, including nurses and teachers.
Certified an urgent administration measure, House Bill No. 5712 was swiftly passed in the Lower House and will be funded a P34 billion allocation in the initial year of implementation. The sum is already included in the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act under the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund.
The bill seeks to raise the minimum basic salary, Salary Grade 1, from P11,068 to P13,000 to remain competitive with the minimum daily wage in the National Capital Region (NCR).
National Government Agencies (NGAs) personnel will receive the increase in four tranches: first tranche to be released beginning Jan. 1, 2020, the second tranche on Jan. 1, 2021, the third tranche on Jan. 1, 2022, and the fourth tranche on Jan. 1, 2023.
Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, sponsored the measure.
"The salaries of government personnel will be raised closer to market rates while giving priority to the rank and file consisting of sub-professional and professional categories ," he said.
The five “nay” votes came from the Makabayan bloc whose members who noted that uniformed personnel enjoyed more of the government’s generosity.
Ungab said the increases will make the standard government pay comparable with that of the private sectors. The proposal raises salaries by a significant amount, especially in the lower salary grades.
For positions allocated to Salary Grades 11 to 13-- for example, teachers 1, 2, and 3 -- the increases in salary shall be 30.1 percent, 27.1 percent, and 24.5 percent respectively upon full implementation.
Ungab said that consistent with the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address last July 2019, the proposed salary adjustments will cover all civilian personnel, including teachers and nurses. This shall cover government personnel whether regular, contractual, or casual; appointive or elective; and on full-time or part-time basis.
The Davao City lawmaker said the bill took into consideration the results of a study on compensation and benefits in the public sector which the Department of Budget and Management and the Governance Commission for GOCCs conducted together with a private consulting firm.
“Said study aimed to determine the competitiveness of government pay in relation to the private sector and developed a compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to market rates, thereby attract and retain competent and dedicated employees to the civil service," Ungab said.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, principal author of the bill, said like many Filipinos, public servants depend on their jobs as their main source of income.
"For most, salaries are used on living expenses including food, shelter, clothing and other necessities for themselves and their families; such necessities, like other goods, are subject to rising prices as time goes by," he added.
House of the Representatives (ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE PHOTO)
Registering 187 affirmative votes and five negative, the Lower House authorized the implementation of SSL 5 which will benefit government employees, including nurses and teachers.
Certified an urgent administration measure, House Bill No. 5712 was swiftly passed in the Lower House and will be funded a P34 billion allocation in the initial year of implementation. The sum is already included in the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act under the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund.
The bill seeks to raise the minimum basic salary, Salary Grade 1, from P11,068 to P13,000 to remain competitive with the minimum daily wage in the National Capital Region (NCR).
National Government Agencies (NGAs) personnel will receive the increase in four tranches: first tranche to be released beginning Jan. 1, 2020, the second tranche on Jan. 1, 2021, the third tranche on Jan. 1, 2022, and the fourth tranche on Jan. 1, 2023.
Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, sponsored the measure.
"The salaries of government personnel will be raised closer to market rates while giving priority to the rank and file consisting of sub-professional and professional categories ," he said.
The five “nay” votes came from the Makabayan bloc whose members who noted that uniformed personnel enjoyed more of the government’s generosity.
Ungab said the increases will make the standard government pay comparable with that of the private sectors. The proposal raises salaries by a significant amount, especially in the lower salary grades.
For positions allocated to Salary Grades 11 to 13-- for example, teachers 1, 2, and 3 -- the increases in salary shall be 30.1 percent, 27.1 percent, and 24.5 percent respectively upon full implementation.
Ungab said that consistent with the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address last July 2019, the proposed salary adjustments will cover all civilian personnel, including teachers and nurses. This shall cover government personnel whether regular, contractual, or casual; appointive or elective; and on full-time or part-time basis.
The Davao City lawmaker said the bill took into consideration the results of a study on compensation and benefits in the public sector which the Department of Budget and Management and the Governance Commission for GOCCs conducted together with a private consulting firm.
“Said study aimed to determine the competitiveness of government pay in relation to the private sector and developed a compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to market rates, thereby attract and retain competent and dedicated employees to the civil service," Ungab said.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, principal author of the bill, said like many Filipinos, public servants depend on their jobs as their main source of income.
"For most, salaries are used on living expenses including food, shelter, clothing and other necessities for themselves and their families; such necessities, like other goods, are subject to rising prices as time goes by," he added.