DBM urged to release survey on pay hike of govt workers

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday appealed to the Department of Budget and Management to immediately complete and release the survey determining if there is a need to raise the salaries of government employees.

“While President [Benigno] Aquino [III] has discounted the possibility of a salary increase in the coming year, I call on the DBM to complete and release at the soonest possible time the survey on salary and benefits that determines whether there is a need to raise salaries,” Binay said at the National Convention of Government Employees in Manila.

The vice president, who is facing corruption allegations, noted that many studies have linked the poor performance of the public sector—not only in the Philippines but also in other countries—to low remuneration.

“Demotivation, absenteeism, turnover rates, difficulty in recruitment, and tension are some of the consequences of low remuneration. Not to mention corruption which continues to rise and the cycle continues. The obvious solution to this conundrum would be to raise the salary of our government workers,” Binay said.

“And I believe there has been a unanimous clamor to implement a fourth version of the salary standardization law,” he added.

Binay's statement was met positively by the audience, who applauded and shouted “now na” to voice their clamor for a salary hike.

Binay, however, replied:  “Hindi ako part sa decision making.” He said he has asked his children, who are members of Congress, to study the proposed salary increase.

“May anak po ako sa Senado, may anak po ako sa Lower House, kapwa ko po yun pinakiusapan na ipaaral sa kanilang staff itong salary standardization batay sa aking karanasan,” he said, referring to his daughters Senator Nancy Binay and Makati Rep. Abigail Binay.

Nat'l budget

The Vice President also said the national budget should be thoroughly reviewed to find out whether there are any appropriations that may instead be used to fund salary increases and other benefits.

Binay also lauded Congress for moving to lower the rates of individual income tax, adjust individual income tax brackets, and raise the tax exemption limit on bonuses.

“Ensuring that the take-home pay is increased will surely help our employees in making ends meet,” he said.

Binay said expanding the tax base “is a better way of increasing revenue than raising tax rates, and such thinking has gained success in Pag-IBIG when the issue of raising the monthly savings requirement of members arose.”

“Pag-IBIG now has more than 14 million members, and gained an all-time high gross income of P29.45 billion, net income of P14.44 billion, and total asset base of P344.67 billion for the year 2013,” he added.

Other benefits

Binay, who chairs Pag-IBIG, also said the government should study how to provide non-monetary benefits to its workers.

“We must also improve our mechanisms for providing non-monetary benefits such as educational opportunities for our public employees,” he said.

He said  during his time as Makati mayor, study grants and attendance at trainings, seminars, and workshops were provided to help in the career growth and development of Makati employees.

“Many of our employees who were able to avail of such benefits used their acquired knowledge to provide better, more efficient and effective services to the people,” he said.

“An added benefit to such a scheme is that the schools that our employees attend are also given the chance to re-calibrate their curricula based on the realities that they daily encounter. Both the academe and bureaucracy then get to partner at improving public service and addressing complex issues of the present and future,” Binay added. —KBK, GMA News