Wage hike pay measure for state workers backed

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has supported a Senate bill that seeks to increase the salaries of all government personnel.

In a two-page legal opinion, Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa did not raise any objection to Senate Bill No. 3009 or the Salary Standardization Law of 2015 filed last month by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Loren Legarda.

“At the outset, we express our full support for this legislation as it would allow the government to engage and retain the services of capable personnel to best serve the needs of the Filipino people,” read the opinion issued last Dec. 14.

But Caguioa cited the “apparent omission” of uniformed personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), an attached agency of the DOJ, in Section 11 of the bill. The 13-level BuCor positions, from chief superintendent down to officer 1, were not included in the proposed salary standardization law.

With this, the DOJ reminded the Senate of RA 10575, enacted earlier this year, which provided for the standardization of basic pay and other benefits of uniformed BuCor personnel.

“The base pay, allowances and other benefits of the above-mentioned personnel shall be in accordance with the existing compensation and position, classification, laws and regulations,” the DOJ stressed, quoting Section 19 of the law.

The DOJ also asked the Senate in the same letter addressed to Drilon to rectify the omission.

“In this connection, we respectfully request your consideration to include the uniformed BuCor personnel in Section 11 of the bill in order to avoid a situation where they will not be allowed to reap the benefits due them under the proposed SSL 2015,” it added.

SB 3009 seeks to increase the monthly salaries of 1.53 million government employees by 45 percent to encourage employees to remain in the government and to boost their morale and productivity.

The proposed measure will cost P225.8 billion over four years, bring the pay system in the government closer to the rates in the private sector and make sure that each salary grade allocation of government personnel will not overlap.

It also introduced a new set of allowances and benefits, including a 14th-month pay, a midyear bonus and a performance-based bonus, which may be equal to or double the monthly salary.

President Aquino has endorsed the passage of the bill in Congress. Under the bill, the President will get a salary increase of P280,000 in four years.