Salary hike for PHL state workers starts this month
THE APPROVED salary increase for government workers will take effect this month, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Monday.
The first part of the four-tranche wage hike for state workers will be funded by the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund and unprogrammed appropriations under the 2024 national budget, the agency said.
National and local budget circulars for the implementation of the wage hike have been signed and were set to be published on Tuesday, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said at the presidential palace.
Guidelines had been sent to agencies so that they could enforce the salary hike, she said. “It’s up to departments and the agencies to immediately implement the adjustments,” she said in Filipino.
“This will be retroactive from January, including the midyear bonus.”
The first part of the four-tranche wage hike would cost about P36 billion. Ms. Pangandaman told lawmakers earlier in the day this will be taken from the miscellaneous personnel benefit fund and unprogrammed budgets.
At the palace, she said agencies could also use their existing personnel service budget for the wage hike.
The second package will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2025, according to Executive Order No. 64, which also entitles workers to a P7,000 medical allowance. The last two tranches will be enforced on Jan. 1, 2026 and Jan. 1, 2027.
The DBM earlier said about P70 billion had been allocated in the P6.352-trillion budget for 2025 for the second tranche.
Under the order signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. this month, the increase was higher for professional (salary grade 11-24) and subprofessional (1-10) government employees than for those in managerial, executive and top-level positions.
The average rate for salary increases from grades 1-31 under the first tranche is 4.41%, bringing the salary of state workers to 84.33% of the market, the DBM said in a separate statement.
The increase is 4-5.2% for those at the subprofessional level. The minimum basic salary (grade 1) will increase by P530 to P13,530, it added.
Meanwhile, the rate for those at the professional level will range from 4.5-5.6%, it said.
For the managerial level (grades 25-28), the increase will be 4.15% to 4.4%; 2.65-3.9% for executive level (grades 29-31); and 2.35-2.4% for top Leaders (grades 32-33), the DBM said.
The salary hike does not cover military and uniformed personnel and some state offices and government-owned and -controlled corporations that have their own salary structure, the DBM said in a circular.
It also does not cover contract of service and job order employees, Ms. Pangandaman said. — K.A.T. Atienza and B.M.D. Cruz
