Senate Committee on Civil Service Chairman Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. expressed his gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte after certifying the Salary Standardization Law of 2019 as “urgent.”
Revilla, who principally sponsored the measure, got the support of his fellow lawmakers in passing Senate Bill 1219 under Committee Report No. 26 jointly submitted by the Committees on Civil Service, Government Organization and Professional Regulation; and Finance.
“It will address the issue of inequality.”
The veteran legislator, in sponsoring the bill, expressed that it will address the issue of inequality in the previous salary standardization laws where high-earning employees greatly benefitted while the majority of government employees receiving basic take home pay only received little increase.
The proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2019 is set to benefit more than 1.4 million government employees especially those under Salary Grade (SG) 11 to 19, comprising 79 percent of the total government employees, including teachers and nurses.
Under the proposed measure, the salary adjustment will be given in four tranches beginning January 2020. It will increase the basic salaries by a weighted average of 23.24 percent upon completion by 2023.
The base pay of government employees will increase to as much as P 6,000.
In effect, it will grant the highest increase ranging from 20 to 30 percent for employees with SG 10 to SG 15, and the lowest of 8 percent for government workers under SG 23 to 33. This means that the base pay of government employees under SG 11 to 19 will increase to as much as P 6,000 after the implementation of SSL within a span of four years.
“Lubos po akong nagpapasalamat sa ating mahal na Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte dahil ang pagsertipika niya ng ‘urgent’ dito sa SSL V ay isang patunay ng kanyang tapat at seryosong paninindigan na patuloy iangat ang antas ng pamumuhay ng mga kawani ng pamahalaan,” the senator concluded.