FOLLOWING the Supreme Court ruling entitling government nurses to a higher basic pay, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is now studying its impact on the planned salary hike for civilian government employees next year until 2022.
Acting Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said the DBM will look into how the high court ruling could impact the pay hike on other government employees since there could be an “overall implication for all positions.”
“We are complying with the Supreme Court decision and are now studying its impact/effect in relation to the salary increase already considered for approval and adoption for next year up to 2022,” Avisado told the BusinessMirror.
Moreover, Avisado said there is also a need to know the cost of implementing the SC ruling and up to what extent the salary adjustments will be.
The DBM earlier said it already allotted P31 billion to fund the salary increases for civilian government employees under the proposed 4.1-trillion 2020 national budget.
“We have to also study the implication of that ruling by the Supreme Court in relation to the other positions of senior rank,” he added.
When asked, however, if this would mean that the government will no longer be appealing the SC decision, Avisado deferred the query to the Office of the Solicitor General, being the government’s legal counsel.
SC ruling
Last week, the SC ruled that the minimum base pay of nurses working in public health institutions shall not be lower than Salary Grade 15 as stated in Section 32 of Republic Act 9173, or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.
Penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the SC decision stemmed from Ang Nars Party-list’s petition questioning the validity of Executive Order 811 signed in 2009 by then- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, which stated that the salary grade for the position of Nurse I shall be increased from Salary Grade 10 to 11.
However, the SC did not grant the party-list’s petition to compel its implementation. The high court said enforcing it would “require a law passed by Congress providing the necessary funds for it.”
Depending on the income class of cities, municipalities and provinces, entry-level employees under Salary Grade 15 receive a monthly salary ranging from P19,845 to P30,531, according to the latest tranche of the salary standardization law that took effect this year.
Currently, entry-level government employees including nurses under Salary Grade 11 receive a monthly salary of from P13,490 to P20,754. The SC ruling came after the DBM had already submitted its proposal for salary adjustment to the Office of the President (OP) for the President’s approval.
Prior to the submission of the proposal, the DBM and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations, with the help of an independent firm, conducted a compensation study to benchmark the pay of civilian government personnel with private sector workers doing comparable jobs.
Once the proposal is approved by OP, it will be transmitted to Congress. The DBM chief said he expects that the President would be able to finish before yearend the review on the proposed salary hike for civilian government employees.
1 comment
A 10% salary increase base on their salary will be equitable since the government has no much funds for higher amounts. Or else it would drown the government to deeper debt.