The House of Representatives last night passed on third and final reading the fifth tranche of the Salary Standardization Law granting the 1.8-million government civilian workers salary increases to be spread over a four-year period.
Voting 187-5, the House authorized the implementation of SSL No. 5 which will benefit government employees, including nurses and teachers.
Certified an urgent an urgent administration measure, House Bill 5712 was swiftly passed in the House and will be funded in the initial year of implementation by a P34-billion allocation which is already included in the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act under the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund.
The bill seeks to raise the minimum basic salary, Salary Grade 1, from P11,068 to P13,000, to remain competitive with the minimum daily wage in the National Capital Region.
National government agencies personnel will receive the increase in four tranches: First tranche on Jan. 1, 2020, the second tranche on Jan. 1, 2021, the third tranche on Jan. 1, 2022, and the fourth tranche beginning on Jan. 1, 2023.
Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, sponsored the measure.
“The salaries of government personnel will be raised closer to market rates while giving priority to the rank-and-file consisting of sub-professional and professional categories,” he said.
The five “nay” votes came from the Makabayan bloc whose members who noted that the uniformed personnel enjoyed more of government’s generosity.
Ungab said the increases will make the standard government pay comparable with the private sector. (Ben Rosario)
