Gov’t workers get last tranche of salary hike: DBM

In a news release, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman announced that government employees can now “look forward” to receiving a higher salary amid the rising prices of basic goods and services. (File Photo: Department of Budget and Management/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday announced that the fourth and last tranche of mandated salary hikes for government workers took effect on Jan. 1 this year.

In a news release, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman announced that government employees can now “look forward” to receiving a higher salary amid the rising prices of basic goods and services.

“We are firmly committed to help them amidst rising prices of goods and services. We hope this latest salary increase will cushion the impact of inflation,” Pangandaman said.

Republic Act 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law (SSL), signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte, gives civilian government employees another round of salary increases broken down into tranches from 2020 to 2023.

Budget circulars

Pangandaman recently signed two separate Budget Circulars on the implementation of the fourth tranche of Salary Schedule for civilian personnel and local government unit (LGU) workers.

RA 11466 covers all positions for civilian personnel, whether regular, casual, or contractual in nature, appointive or elective, full-time or part-time, now existing or thereafter created in the executive, legislative and judicial branches; constitutional commissions and other constitutional offices; state universities and colleges (SUCs); and government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) not covered by RA 10149.

SSL V also applies to all positions for salaried LGU personnel, whether regular, contractual or casual in nature, elective or appointive; on full-time or part-time basis, now existing or thereafter created in LGUs, and all positions for barangay personnel which are paid monthly honoraria.

Those engaged without employer-employee relationship and funded from non-Personnel Services appropriations/budgets shall be excluded from the coverage of the circular.

Also excluded are the military and uniformed personnel, GOCCs under RA 10149, and individuals whose services are engaged through job orders, contracts of service, consultancy or service contracts with no employer-employee relationship.

Another round of salary hikes

Meanwhile, Pangandaman said the DBM will be conducting a study on the government compensation structure of the different national government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) upon the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

“President Bongbong Marcos directed us to conduct a study to ensure that the compensation of all civilian personnel will be generally competitive with those in the private sector doing comparable work to attract, retain and motivate corps of competent and dedicated civil servants,” she said.

She said the DBM is also reviewing the rates of the existing benefits being provided to qualified government employees to assess if these may need adjustment in the future.

Under the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA), around PHP48 million has been allocated under the Governance Commission for GOCCs’ (GCG) budget to support the conduct of a study on the government compensation structure of the different national government agencies and GOCCs.