1.2 M gov't workers to get raise on March 31

Some 1.2 million civil servants, including Cabinet members, are to get their 10 percent across-the-board pay raise on March 31, Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno said yesterday.

Diokno told The STAR that the increase would mean an additional P3,500 monthly for him and other department secretaries.

Yesterday, he signed the directive to release P3 billion in notice of cash allocations to allow national government agencies to pay the salary differentials, he added.

Earlier, President Estrada said the government needs P13.2 billion to pay the salary increases of government employees although these are included in this year's budget.

The 2000 General Appropriations Act, which the President signed into law last month, delayed the payment of salary increases to civil servants.

President Estrada, Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the members of Congress are not included in the pay raise.

After months of delay, congressmen are now ready to take up a bill to raise the minimum wage by P125 amid public protests against a recent rise in oil retail prices.

"(The bill) is there," Rep. Julio Ledesma (LAMP, Negros Occidental), chairman of the House committee on labor and employment, told reporters yesterday. "We can tackle it anytime. We should really act on the bill now to help cushion the effects of (oil) price hikes."

Last week, oil companies raised fuel prices by an average 80 centavos per liter, sparking threats from various groups to mount huge street protests.

In the past, the government has ruled out legislated minimum wage increases, leaving this job to regional wage boards.

However, the rise in oil prices has put pressure on the Estrada administration to take some action.

In October, the minimum wage in Metro Manila, was raised by 12 percent to about P223 a day following protests caused by rising pump prices.

Cause-oriented groups are threatening to mobilize thousands of people nationwide this week to protest the hike in oil prices. Transport groups also plan to stage similar mass actions.

Meanwhile, Economic Planning Secretary Felipe Medalla said in a statement that the oil price hike would not have an excessive effect on inflation because economic liberalization had increased competition, forcing manufacturers to keep prices down.

If not for this, the inflation rate would have been around four percent, he added.

Medalla said the country is now less dependent on crude oil than in the 1970s as it reduced utilizing oil-based power plants and relies more on those run on cheaper fuel.

Several measures have allowed the government to reduce dependence on imported oil from 92 percent in 1973 to just half of the country's energy needs, he added.

Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary Zenaida Maglaya, on the other hand, said manufacturers have not asked to raise prices since fuel is only a small percentage of their production costs.