Higher gov’t workers’ salary proposed

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers are pushing for a P6,000 additional monthly pay for the country’s 1.4 million government workers, saying that their salaries have become unrealistic due to inflation and other economic difficulties.

In House Bill 3746, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano said he wants the government to add P6,000 increase in the minimum wage of government employees.

“The current minimum pay reflects the dismal state of public sector workers. To be affected are the frontline service workers, who live in poverty,” Mariano said.

He explained that the measure, seeking to alleviate the living conditions of ordinary Filipinos and provide for a decent and humane standard of living and improved quality of life, aims to promote social justice for the well-being of all members of the community.

He added that the proposed wage increase will cover employees of the national government, government-owned and-controlled corporations, government financial institutions, state universities and colleges and local government units.

Mariano stressed that the filing of his measure was prompted by the realization that the passage of the Salary Standardization Law 3 (SSL 3) has not been enough to substantially address the plight of government workers.

At present, an employee with the compensation of Salary Grade Step 1 receives P6,861 per month, which is far from the government’s estimated cost of living of P28,710 per month.

“Even if employees receive the full implementation of SSL 3, the minimum pay shall still only be P9,000. The situation of employees is far worse as they receive lower amount because the SSL 3 continues to implement the policy of wage regionalization,” Mariano said.

Mariano said the bill seeks to address inequalities in the pay of frontline service government workers and the executive and top officials of government who enjoy perks and privileges. –RIO ROSE RIBAYA, Manila Bulletin