GOVERNMENT WORKERS TO GET SALARY INCREASE

Salary hike for government employees will start this year and will roll out through 2027 according to the Budget Department (Photo courtesy of Rappler)

Government workers to receive first and second tranche of salary increases covering the years 2024 and 2024 according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Following the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos Jr. where he emphasized the need for improved compensation and benefits for government employees.

Based on DBM’s P6.352 trillion national budget proposal, P70 billion was allocated for the salary increase of state workers. According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, “The P70 billion is for the first tranche of a retroactive salary adjustment for this year and for the second tranche for next year. We wanted to start the four tranches this year and spread it over the next years, so it’s from 2024 to 2027.”

“For budgeting purposes, we included P70 billion in the FY (Fiscal Year) 2025 MPBF (Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund) to cover funding requirements for Tranches 1 and 2. This is the case since the Personnel Services budget of each agency under the NEP (National Expenditure Program) is still based on 2023 rates,” she added.

The salary increase for government employees is expected to benefit 165,007 sub-professionals; 1,170,647 professionals including teachers and lawyers; and 22,640 personnel in executive roles. The number of permanent positions in the entire bureaucracy stands at 1.943 million, which include both civilian and military/uniformed personnel according to DBM.

A medical allowance will also be provided for government workers which was designed to simplify the process for departments to acquire health maintenance organization (HMO) service. P7,000 will be given per employee and will be implemented next year.

The incentive will be given cash as the medical allowance was designed to be like a uniform allowance to make it easier for department to acquire the HMO, according to the DBM.

The most recent salary increases for government workers occurred in 2023, marking the fourth and final tranche of the Salary Standardization Law of 2019, which began in 2020.

Source: Daily Tribune 

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