By Bernadette D. Nicolas & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
DAYS before Congress goes on a monthlong break, President Duterte certified as urgent the salary standardization law 5—a measure seeking salary increases for civilian government workers, including nurses and teachers, starting 2020.
This, as the last tranche of the salary standardization law of 2015 is set to expire this year.
In a letter to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III dated December 13, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the certification is for the “immediate enactment” of Senate Bill 1219.
“I have the honor to transmit the letter of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte certifiying to the necessity of the immediate enactment of Senate Bill 1219, entitled: ‘An Act Modifying the Salary Schedule for Civilian Government Personnel and Authorizing the Grant of Additional Benefits and for Other Purposes’ pursuant to the provisions of Article VI, Section 26 [2] of the 1987 Constitution,” said Medialdea in the letter to Sotto.
The urgent certification of the measure will pave the way for its swift passage as the bill need not undergo the three-day rule between the second and third reading, with approval on both levels done within the same day.
Senate votes 21-0
In a related development, the Senate on Monday night voted 21-0 to approve the pay hike bill.
Earlier on Monday, the House Committee on Appropriations chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab approved the House version of the bill.
In anticipation of the implementation of SSL 5, Congress has appropriated P32 billion in the P4.1-trillion 2020 General Appropriations Bill.
The House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, earlier said the Duterte administration is set to spend P110 billion for the next three years for SSL5.
More than 1.4 million government employees, including teachers and nurses, are set to benefit from the proposed SSL5.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) made a recommendation on the salary adjustment and this was later approved by Duterte.
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.
In an interview, Ungab said the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act already provides for P34 billion for the implementation of the first-tranche salary increase under the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund.
He said the proposed SSL5 seeks to grant public-school teachers under Salary Grades (SG) 11 to 13, specifically with an increase of 30.1 percent for Teacher 1, 27.1 percent for Teacher 2, and 24.1 percent for Teacher 3.
Also, under the bill, Salary Grade 1 employees will receive a P2,000 increase or P500 each year from 2020 to 2023. Currently, the SG 1 is equivalent to P11,000.
“We are approving it at the committee level and we are recommending it at the plenary maybe this [Monday] afternoon [on second reading],” Ungab said.
For her part, Assistant Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said the salary increase for teachers was insufficient.
Earlier, Castro filed House Bill 5783 or the Magna Carta for Private School Teachers.
“Private-school teachers, unlike their public- sector counterpart, have no labor standards law to call their own,” Castro said.
Image credits: Photo from News and Information Bureau/Presidential Communications Office
3 comments
Wow generous naman mga congressman at senators, 500 a month or 22 pesos per day increase sa salary grade 1 to 9. barya barya….Tapos pag nagmalaki kayo parang very proud pa kayo..
I mean 500 per year…
I mean 500 per year 0r 1.28 pesos per day increase. Very proud pa kayo nyan?.. Or dapat kayong mahiya..