Congress backs BIR bid for exemption from SSL

The proposal to grant higher salaries to Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) personnel by exempting them from the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) in order to ultimately eliminate corruption in the agency has secured support from the leadership of both houses of Congress.

At the House of Representatives, House Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez and ways and means committee chair and Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua introduced House Bill No. 4973, aimed at exempting BIR employees from the coverage of Republic Act No. 6758 or the SSL.

Over at the Senate, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has already committed to filing his version of the bill, BIR Deputy Commissioner Jesus Clint O. Aranas said late Monday. Senate ways and means committee chair Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara already filed Senate Bill No. 1314, which also seeks the same.

The bills called for the establishment of the BIR’s own compensation and position classification system (CPCS) for all workers, whether full-time or part-time, under which basic compensation “shall generally be comparable with those in the private sector doing comparable work and must be in accordance with prevailing laws on minimum wages.”