MANILA – Budget and Management Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel said studies are ongoing for the proposed increase in the salaries of government workers, with the first of three tranches likely to start in 2020.
This was contained in a reply letter to National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict Executive Director Allen A. Capuyan, dated July 16, 2019.
She said the plan is to implement the salary increase within a three-year period or from 2020 to 2022. “Part of the ongoing study is benchmarking with comparable jobs in the private sector,” she said.
“Nevertheless, we have prepared initial estimates of the total budgetary requirement for the first tranche in 2020, for inclusion in the Miscellaneous and Personnel Benefits Funds under the FY (Fiscal Year) 2020 budget,” she said.
“Said estimates are based on catch up of salaries with inflation,” she added.
The salary increase plan is in line with calls for the pay hike since the fourth and last tranche of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2015 is being implemented this year, which requires about PHP45-55 billion.
Relatively, President Rodrigo R. Duterte, in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday, said increase in the salaries of public school teachers, among others, is now in the pipeline.
This comes after the President pushed for the hike in the salaries of uniformed government personnel in the first half of his term.
Relatively, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, in a message to reporters, said “the funds for the salary adjustments are in place.” He, however, did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, Abuel said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released PHP4.88 billion of the initial PHP10-billion budget for the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged Marawi City.
She said the balance of PHP5.118 billion will be part of a continuing appropriation in fiscal year 2019.
She disclosed that as of July 10, 2019, DBM has released PHP554.151 million for the Marawi City rehabilitation effort.
Relatively, the DBM chief noted that “of the earmarked amounts for charging under Continuing Appropriations that are approved by the Office of the President, only the amount of PHP300,000 for the Presidential Communications Operations Office-Bureau of Broadcast Services remains unreleased pending the recommendation of the Medium-Term Information and Communications Technology Harmonization Initiative Steering Committee.”
She added that aside from the Continuing Appropriations for the current year, about PHP3.5 billion has been allocated for the Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program for 2019. (PNA)
