Employees of DBM and CSC join push for wage increase

Employees of the Department of Budget and Management and the Civil Service Commission have recently joined the horde of government employees demanding for salary increase.

During their conference early this week, employees of DBM-7 and CSC-7 and other government agencies launched a signature campaign to push and support for a new compensation bill that seeks to amend the Salary Standardization Law that is sponsored by congressmen Joey Salceda and Francis Nepomuceno.

Editha Luzano, CSC-7 assistant regional director, said that unlike the existing law, the draft Government Compensation and Classification Act of 2006 intends to cover all government employees, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations and financial institutions.

She explained that since the administration of former president Fidel Ramos, when the salary standardization law was first implemented, prices of basic commodities, gasoline and other services have gone up but their salaries have remained the same.

The draft compensation seeks to use performance as the basis for promotions, increases and incentives. Under its base pay schedule, the lowest-ranked government employee will get P5,800 a month plus allowances, while the highest-ranked employee will get P140,277 a month. The bill will also seeks to rename all existing jobs in government, using the generic titles.

"This new bill will address the inequities and distortions in the current salary structure of the Philippine Government," reads a joint DBM-CSC letter that was distributed to government agencies and labor unions. The results of the signature campaign will be sent to Congress.

Just recently, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Jr. made an assurance that there will definitely be an increase in salaries through a third round of salary standardization that will be done this year. He said that P10.3 billion has been allotted next year for the salary increase of government employees.

The government employees' last salary increase was in 2001 when the salary scale for government workers was revised in January and July. At present, the lowest paid government employee has a basic monthly salary of P5,082 (Salary Grade 1). Included in this salary grade are utility workers. A public school teacher with the entry-level rank of Teacher 1, on the other hand, belongs to Salary Grade 10 and earns a basic monthly salary of P9,939. The highest scale, Salary Grade 33, is allotted to the President who gets a basic monthly salary of P57,750. - Wenna A. Berondo/MEEV