GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES are set to receive higher pay after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) rolled out the third tranche of the updated salary schedule for civilian personnel this month.
Acting Budget Secretary Rolando U. Toledo has issued National Budget Circular No. 601 on Jan. 23, to implement the updated salary schedule for civilian workers based on Executive Order (EO) No. 64, which will be delivered in four tranches.
The DBM said the third tranche of the pay increase took effect on Jan. 1, 2026, to be followed by the fourth and final tranche on Jan. 1, 2027.
The first and second tranche were implemented in the same month in 2025 and 2024.
“The amounts required for the herein salary adjustment and related fixed expenditure increases for civilian government personnel are already incorporated in the respective agency budgets under Republic Act No. 12314 or the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act,” Mr. Toledo said.
He added this circular applies to all civilian government personnel in executive, legislature and judiciary branches, constitutional commissions, state universities and colleges and state-run firms.
This increase excludes military and uniformed personnel, and government agencies exempted from the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS).
The DBM said the salary increase is not just for regular employees, it also covers casual and contractual workers, as long as there’s an employer-employee relationship and they fall under the CPCS.
“The implementation of the third tranche monthly salary schedule in GOCCs (Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations) covered by the DBM shall be determined by their respective governing boards, provided it shall not be earlier than Jan. 1, 2026,” Mr. Toledo said.
EO No. 64, issued in August 2024, revises the salary schedule for civilian government employees to establish a competitive and sustainable compensation and position classification system that supports the recruitment, retention, and engagement of high-performing civil servants.
However, ACT Teachers Party-List last week said the third tranche of salary adjustment for civilian government personnel remains insufficient amid higher cost of goods.
“The wage increase is still not enough amid the continuing rise in the prices of goods. Fight for decent, living, and humane wages for all government employees,” the group said in their Facebook post on Jan. 23. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
