Thursday, July 10, 2008 Gov't workers to get another pay adjustment
AMID calls for an across the board salary increase for government employees, the Arroyo administration is now drafting a proposed resolution covering a next round of salary increase for government employees effective 2009, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said.
Andaya said the next round of increase, which could even be higher than the P3,000 across the board increase that the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is asking, would be covered by the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 3.
He said the increase would depend on the salary rates of the employees and the funding for the increase would be provided for in the 2009 budget.
He said he is planning to submit the proposed resolution to Congress after the State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on July 28.
The budget secretary said President Arroyo and the members of the executive branch had initial discussions with Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and Speaker Prospero Nograles on the proposed wage increase and they have all agreed that the SSL3 would be enacted faster if done through a resolution instead of a bill.
"There was a unanimous decision that this would be done through a resolution, just like what we did during SSL2," he said.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, however, dismissed calls of some private employees group for another round of wage increase citing the current situation, despite the continued rise in the prices of oil and food, is not enough to forego the one-year ban on wage increases.
"There is a policy that we should consider. As you know, it was only recently that we had the wage increase," he said.
"I think it is reasonable to say that the present situation does not warrant a condition where we should think again of wage increase by the regional wage boards or by legislation," he added.
