THE House of Representatives approved on second reading Monday the consolidated bill increasing the salaries of government employees next year.
House Bill 5712 or the proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2019 (SSL-V) was written by Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano, Deputy Speaker Paolo Z. Duterte, and Majority Leader Martin G. Romualdez.
The measure covers all civilian government personnel in the Executive, Legislative, Judicial Branches, Constitutional Commissions and other Constitutional Offices, and government-owned and controlled corporations.
According to the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Isidro T. Ungab, the panel will seek urgent certification of the bill from Malacañang.
“We expect that the Office of the President might issue a certificate of urgency any time after ma-file yung Committee report sa plenary mamaya (after the committee report is filed with the plenary later)” Mr. Ungab said.
Should the President issue a certificate of urgency, the bill will not be required to undergo three readings.
If the bill is signed into law, Salary Grade (SG) 1 government employees will receive a total P2,000 increase or P500 each year starting from 2020 until 2023. In other words, SG 1 employees who currently receive P11,000 will receive P13,000 by 2023.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said that the Senate will also prioritize the bill before Congress adjourns for the year.
“Hopefully by today, so malaki ang pag-asa, and then the salary standardization law, para finally maayos na rin yung sweldo ng lahat (We hope to tackle it today, so the prospects are good for finally fixing new salaries for everyone)” he said.
Separately, President Rodrigo R. Duterte certified as urgent Monday Senate Bill 1219 which seeks to modify the salary schedule for civilian government personnel and authorize the grant of additional benefits.
ACT Teachers representative France L. Castro said the salary increase in the House bill is insufficient because the salary of teachers in basic education will only increase to P27,000 from P20,754.
“Kapos siya ng P3,000 dun sa proposal ng mga teachers. Ito ay ano ah P27,000 after four years pa to. Eh ngayon magkano na ba ang sweldo ng mga uniformed personnel? P30,000 na sila ngayon. Pero ang mga teacher P27,000 after four years pa. Sobra namang napaka barat ng proposal na ito ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management) at ng liderato ng House (The proposal is short by P3,000 from what the teachers are seeking. The P27,000 will only come after four years; meanwhile uniformed personnel receive P30,000 right now. The DBM and House leadership proposal is not very generous)” Ms. Castro told reporters.
Mr. Ungab said the DBM proposal was carefully studied.
“Kung may pagkukulang man (If there are any shortcomings), we hope to correct that in the future. Kung kaya lang ibigay nang mataas why not? Ang problema, we also have limited funds (If we are able to give more in the future, why not? The problem is, we also have limited funds)“ Mr. Ungab told reporters. — Genshen L. Espedido
