A bill seeking to increase the salary of government civilian workers has been certified as urgent by President Duterte.
The President sent a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III certifying “the necessity of the immediate enactment” of Senate Bill No. 1219 or the “Salary Standardization Law of 2019.” Duterte’s letter to Sotto was dated Dec. 13.
The priority bill is also known as “An Act Modifying the Salary Schedule for Civilian Government Personnel and Authorizing the Grant of Additional Benefits and for the Purposes.”
In seeking the swift passage of the bill, the President said the measure would “address the need to further invigorate public service with efficiency and productivity by providing government civilian personnel a just and equitable compensation responsive to their economic needs.”
Under the bill, the salary increase for government civilian personnel will be distributed in four tranches, starting January 2020. Upon full implementation, the measure will raise the salaries of workers by an average of 23.24 percent by 2023. (Genalyn Kabiling)