Bicam still deadlocked on pay standardization

MANILA, Philippines – The bicameral conference on the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 4 remained deadlocked as of yesterday afternoon, with just two session days to go before lawmakers adjourn for the long election campaign.

There was no agreement on whether conferees from the Senate and the House of Representatives would convene today or tomorrow, the last day of session of Congress, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, appropriations committee chairman, said yesterday in a text message.

Ungab chairs the conference panel jointly with Senate civil service committee chairman Antonio Trillanes IV.

He said there is no change in the stand of the House rejecting the Senate version of the draft SSL4 “because there is no funding for it.”

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II later told reporters that Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Senate President Franklin Drilon are trying to break the impasse on the proposed government salary increase.

“Theoretically, we hope to pass SSL4 before we go on recess this weekend. If we fail to do that, we still have time in May to approve it,” he said.

As to whether the planned pay hike would retroact to last Jan. 1, Gonzales said he was not sure.

Responding to another question, he said it is possible Aquino would veto the proposed SSL4 if it contains an indexation provision.

“Malacañang has informed us that there is no funding for it. So it is possible the President might veto it. However, the President cannot resolve to line veto, meaning he cannot strike down only the indexation feature. He has to approve or reject the bill in its entirety,” he added. 

The proposed law contains the planned new four-year government-wide salary increase program.

The House version would have the pay hike cover the 1.527 million workers in the bureaucracy, including 347,000 military and uniformed personnel (MUP) like those from the Philippine National Police, Coast Guard, Bureau of Fire Protection and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

The Senate version includes an indexation of the pension of 211,584 MUP retirees to the envisioned salary increase of active-duty personnel.

Over the weekend, Gonzales said the Senate has to accept the congressmen’s version of the proposed SSL4.

He said if the Senate indexation proposal was followed, the monthly pension of a retired chief of staff of the military would soar from P90,000 to P280,000, more than twice the pension of President Aquino when he steps down.

He said the proposed salary increase would have been approved last month and would have taken effect Jan. 1 had the Senate not reconsidered its passage of the House version to allow Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to present his indexation amendment, which senators approved.

The House version of the planned salary increase is fully funded in the 2016 national budget.

Ungab said House conferees could not agree to the Senate version because of the funding problem.

A Palace spokesman indicated over the weekend that the President, after vetoing the P2,000 Social Security System pension increase bill, is not likely to agree to higher pensions for retired military and other uniformed personnel.

In the face of the bicameral conference deadlock, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III urged the two chambers to come to an agreement on the proposed government salary increase as soon as possible.

“We have to break the impasse for the sake of our state workers,” he said.

Echoing Albano’s appeal, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said the people would be hit with a double whammy “if Congress fails to approve the proposed SSL4 after the veto of the P2,000 social security pension bill.”

Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said he was confident the House and the Senate would agree on a compromise.

Pay hike

Meanwhile, a joint circular issued by the the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) indicates elective officials not running in the coming elections may look forward to pay hike with the release of guidelines granting salary increments for length of service.

Under Joint Circular 1-2016, national and local elected officials may now be granted “step increments,” according to their salary grade levels.

“The grant of step increments to elective officials shall be based on length of service,” the joint circular stated. – With Prinz Magtulis