MANILA – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Sunday he has filed a bill providing government employees with a special economic assistance in the form of Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA).
Trillanes said his proposed COLA under Senate Bill No. 29, which is an alternative to the proposed new Salary Standardization Law, is on top of other mandatory allowances the public servants have been receiving every month.
According to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation, the salaries of government employees have been adjusted a few years ago but it is not enough due to “increasing cost of basic necessities.”
He said it is high time that government employees be granted additional assistance to help alleviate the effects of rising cost of living due to inflation, and in order for them to sustain a decent living.
The SBN 2901 seeks to grant all government employees with COLA amounting to PhP5,000 to be implemented across-the-board on top of the existing Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA).
It covers all civilian government employees as indicated in Republic Act No. 6758, or the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989.
Funding for the bill will be sourced from the General Appropriations Act, particularly the Miscellaneous Personal Benefit Fund (MPBF) or any savings realized by the government from the current GAA.
In the Senate, Trillanes has continuously proposed for the adjustment in the prevailing salary rates of state workers, through the proposed amendment of the Compensation and Position Classification Act or the Salary Standardization Law No. 4 (SSL 4).
“I believe that this could be the best alternative in case the national government is not yet ready at this time to implement another round of salary adjustments for government employees,” Trillanes said.
”Most importantly, this legislation could be the best compromise to fast-track the implementation of a long overdue increase in the take-home pay of government workers,” he added.