GOVERNMENT workers, all 1.7 million of them, will get a salary increase starting this month, including President Duterte who will get an additional P7,995 as mandated by a law he signed a year ago.
The salary adjustment represents the third tranche in the four-year compensation upgrading program contained in Republic Act No. 11466, otherwise known as Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 5 which the President Duterte on Jan. 8, 2020
“They (state workers) should see the increase in their paycheck this week,” said deputy speaker Michael Romero (PL, 1-Pacman), one of the principal authors of the measure at the House of Representatives.
The law provides that the increases will be undertaken in four tranches every January starting 2020 until 2023.
SSL 5 was approved by Congress after Duterte called for a new round of salary adjustment in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2019. It was the only SSL law signed under his administration.
Romero said the latest round of salary increase covers all government personnel, from the President down to the lowest-paid worker. It also applies to local government units throughout the country and state corporations.
He noted that the monthly pay of the President, who is under Salary Grade 33, will go up to P423,723 this month from P415,728 last year, or an additional P7,995.
A Salary Grade 1 holder, on the other hand, will receive an additional P483, with his basic pay going up to P12,517 while the salary of the lowest-paid public school teacher under Salary Grade 11 or Teacher 1 will increase by P1,562 to P25,439.
Teacher 2 under Salary Grade 12 will receive P27,608, while a Master Teacher 4 under Salary Grade 21 will get P62,449.
Government nurses will also see their monthly compensation adjusted by P1,522, from P33,575 last year to P35,097 this month.
Romero pointed out that the pay level of nurses in public hospitals and health facilities has been upgraded from SG 11 to SG 15 under a 2019 Supreme Court ruling and they are also mandated to receive allowances under the new Bayanihan laws.
