State workers, military and police personnel assured of pay hike,
says Senate finance committee head

Unless vetoed by Malacañang , the country's 1.5 million government employees, military and police personnel are more or less assured of a substantial increase in their salaries and allowances by the middle of the year, Liberal Party (LP) President Franklin Drilon, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said today.

Drilon made the announcement after he met this morning with his counterpart, House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who informed him that the House of Representatives has "approved in principle" to pass a bill that would grant a 10 percent salary increase for all government employees and an increase in the subsistence allowance and hazard pay of military and police personnel effective July 1.

In the Senate, Drilon expressed confidence that majority of the senators would also approve a similar bill intended to help the country's state workers, soldiers, policemen, firemen and jail guards cope with the increasing cost of living.

Drilon said the proposed P1.126 trillion national budget for 2007 contained a provision authorizing Malacañang to utilize the unprogrammed funds in the budget to pay for the immediate salary increases of government employees, military and police personnel.

"To ease the financial burdens of our civil servants, we are proposing the immediate enactment of a law that will grant the salary increase of government employees. Congressman Salceda has assured me that this bill is more or less approved in the House and we do not see any opposition in the Senate," Drilon said.

"The amount of P10.3 billion has already been provided in the 2007 national budget under the Unprogrammed Fund to allow for the immediate release of the funds for the salary increase as soon as the law is approved," he added.

Drilon and Andaya are credited for reconciling the conflicting provisions of the proposed 2007 national budget bill that was ratified by both chambers of Congress Monday. The bill will now be presented to President Arroyo for her signature.

Also last Monday, administration Sen. Joker Arroyo revealed that Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. has confirmed that Malacañang had already set aside the amount of P10.3 billion to implement the salary hike. The only problem left to be threshed out is the manner by which the wage hike for state workers would be implemented, Arroyo said.

Drilon noted that the last legislated salary increase for government employees was in July 2001 when a five percent increase on their basic salary was granted. Thereafter, a P1,000 increase in additional compensation was granted in 2006, Drilon said.

Aside from the 10 percent salary increase for government workers, Drilon said the bill also provides for a P30 per day increase in the subsistence allowance and a P120 per month increase in the hazard pay of members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and other agencies.

Drilon said the 10 percent increase in the pay of government workers would cost the national government P8.2 billion while the increase in the allowance and hazard pay of military and police personnel would cost P2.1 billion.

The funds for the salary increases of employees in government-owned and controlled corporations as well as other government financial institutions covered by the Salary Standardization Law shall be charged against their respective corporate funds, Drilon proposed.

Drilon's bill also provides that the pay increase for local government personnel should be charged from the local government units while barangay officials and employees receiving honoraria as a form of compensation will also be given a 10 percent pay increase.

Drilon noted that data from the National Statistics Office showed that as of November 2006, the prices of goods and services as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) have increased by 29 percent since the granting of the last salary adjustments for government workers in 2001. Because of this, the purchasing power of the Philippine peso has been reduced to only P0.73.

"These economic difficulties have caused a large number of our government employees to quit the civil service and seek alternative employment in the private sector here and aboard," Drilon lamented.