Gov’t mulls feasibility of workers’ salary hikes beyond 2023

Given its limited fiscal space wrought by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the government will study if its workers could continue to enjoy another round of yearly salary hikes starting 2024.

Since the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 5 which increased government workers’ salaries since 2020 would have its last tranche in 2023, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the Governance Commission for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations (GCG) would undertake a study next year to look into possibly continuing the annual wage hikes from 2024 onwards.

Pangandaman told legislators last week that P49.5 million had been set aside in the GCG’s proposed 2023 agency budget for this study.

Separately, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the GCG would first have to find out if there would be a need for further salary increases.

In case the government could afford additional pay to its personnel, the GCG would also have to determine the level at which salaries would rise, Diokno said.

Diokno said the GCG would also study if further salary hikes would be sustainable given the Marcos administration’s plan to right-size the bureaucracy.

“We will eliminate imprudent spending through the right-sizing of government agencies, among other efficiency-enhancing initiatives,” Diokno told legislators at the start of the deliberations on the proposed P5.268-trillion 2023 national budget on Friday.

The national government’s right-sizing program was among the Marcos administration’s priority legislative reform measures.

Personnel services or expenditures for government employees cornered the biggest chunk of the budget proposal for next year, amounting to P1.63 trillion or 31 percent. “This is 16.1 percent larger when compared to this year’s level on account of the implementation of the fourth and last tranche of the SSL 5 next year, pension requirements, creation and filling up of positions, and allocation for the implementation of the national government rightsizing program,” the Budget chief said.

—Ben O. de Vera INQ