House panel OKs another round of pay hike for gov’t workers

The House Committee on Appropriations chaired by Rep. Isidro Ungab convenes on Monday. pic.twitter.com/WjxMdz6bV7

— House of Representatives of the Philippines (@HouseofRepsPH) December 16, 2019

MANILA — The House Committee on Appropriations on Monday approved a measure proposing the salary increases for government workers starting 2020.

The panel, chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, approved the consolidated House Bill 5712, which proposes another round of salary increases for civilian government employees since the last tranche of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2015 is set to end this year.

“We are approving it at the committee level and we are recommending it at the plenary maybe this afternoon,” Ungab said.

Ungab noted that they will request President Rodrigo Duterte to certify the bill as urgent, adding that this is a priority measure of both houses of Congress.

“We will request for the urgent certification from the president. ‘Paglabas ng committee report anytime, i-papa-certify as urgent (Once the committee report is out, we will have it certified as urgent),” he said.

Ungab said some PHP34 billion has been allocated under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund in the proposed 2020 budget for the implementation of the first tranche salary increase.