Malacañang on Wednesday, March 20, said President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order that would give government workers their salary increases despite the stalled 2019 national budget.
Executive Order No. 76, signed by Duterte on Friday, March 15, amends EO 201 or the 2016 Salary Standardization Law (SSL) to modify the salary schedule and authorize the grant of additional benefits for both civilian and military personnel.
Under EO No. 201, which was issued by former president Benigno Aquino III, 1.3 million government employees, except for incumbent elected national officials, were supposed to receive the fourth and last tranche of the salary increase starting January.
“There is a need to identify an appropriate funding source to cover the requirements for the implementation of the fourth tranche compensation adjustment for civilian government personnel scheduled in 2019 under EO No. 201,” the EO reads.
The implementation of salary adjustments had been delayed due to the congressional impasse over the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
The government is currently on its third month operating on a reenacted budget.
“The president does not want to prolong the overdue salary increase that our public servants, who have been working tirelessly and silently for the last two months, have been looking forward to,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
According to him, Duterte directed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to “find and recommend a measure to fund the fourth tranche of salary increase of state workers.”
He also urged Congress to break the impasse on the budget.
“We reiterate our vigorous call to the two chambers of Congress to end this impasse on the budget with dispatch that the GAB (General Appropriations Bill) may finally be transmitted for [Duterte’s] review and approval to assist this government better the lives of our countrymen and help the nation move forward,” he said.
