By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday announced the possible grant of salary increases for government employees next year.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, during the submission of the proposed P3.002 trillion 2016 national budget, said that the agency is now finalizing the comprehensive salary and benefit survey.
“We are almost done with salary and compensation survey and we will be submitting our recommendation to President Aquino in August,” Abad said.
According to Abad, there is already an item for salary increases under the miscellaneous personnel benefit funds for 2016, but he could not say how much the increase will be pending President Aquino’s approval.
“The President has instructed us to conduct benefit and compensation survey as the basis of another round of salary increases in the public sector, unfortunately when Super Typhoon Yolanda hit [in 2013] we had to stop the survey because there were certain areas that could not be accessed anymore,” Abad said.
“However, the initial findings of that survey indicate that, in general, the pay of a government employee compared to a private employee is only about 45 percent of the latter’s. We want to be able to hue as closely as possible to the market rate,” he added.
Abad also expressed confidence that President Aquino will approve the salary increases before his term ends next year.
“We will be meeting, of course, with Congress because we need a joint resolution in case the President approves another round of pay increases so that it will be enacted into law,” he said.
1 comment
Why say ‘possible’ and not make it sure?