Gov't wage hike to take effect this year —DBM

Government workers are set to receive the first tranche of salary increases this year funded by the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund (MPBF) and unprogrammed appropriations, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Monday.

According to the DBM, the first of the four-tranche salary increase for national government employees will start this year, retroactively from January 2024, and followed by yearly salary adjustments from January 2025 to January 2027.

The first tranche will have an average increase of 4.41% for salary grades (SGs) 1 to 31, which the DBM said will bring the compensation of government employees to 84.33% of the market.

This will bring the minimum basic salary under SG1 up by P530 to P13,530, with the increase for SG1 to SG10 between 4% and 5.20%.

For the professional level or SG11 to SG24, which includes the workforce required by agencies to carry out their mandate, the increase will range from 4.50% to 5.60%.

Managerial levels or SGs 25 to 28 will have an increase ranging from 4.15% to 4.40%, executive levels or SGs 29 to 31 with 2.65% to 3.90%, and top leaders or SGs 31 to 33 with 2.35% to 2.40%.

“Compared to SSL V, the proposed rate of increase under SSL (Salary Standardization Law) VI will be slightly higher, as leverage to increase the marketability of working for the government and engage high-performing personnel,” the DBM said.

In a separate interview with Palace reporters, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the national and local budget circulars have already been signed for the implementation of salary adjustments.

''Napirmahan na po kaninang umaga 'yung national budget circular at saka local budget circular so we expect that ang publication nito ay tomorrow,'' Pangandaman said. 

(The national and local budget circulars were already signed this morning and we expect that the publication will be tomorrow.)

According to Pangandaman, guidelines were already sent to government agencies so that they can hastily enforce the adjustment in the employees' salaries. 

''It's up to departments now, agencies and 'yung mga lahat ng magi-implement ng adjustments para mapabilis 'yung pag-release ng mga adjustments nito. Retroactive from January, kasama din po ang midyear bonus,'' she said.

(It's up to departments and the agencies to immediately implement the adjustments. This will be retroactive from January, including the midyear bonus.)

To recall, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) 64 on August 2, 2024, covering civilian government personnel in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches; constitutional commissions and other constitutional offices, as well workers in government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and local government units (LGUs).

Marcos in his state of the nation address (SONA) last month said his administration has allocated funds for the salary adjustments of workers in the bureaucracy.

EXPLAINER: How much will be the adjusted gov't workers' salaries under EO 64?

The DBM earlier said it earmarked P70 billion in the proposed national budget for 2025 to implement the first two tranches of the government workers’ wage hike, covering the years 2024 and 2025.

DBM secretary Amenah Pangandaman said, however, that the agency is now finalizing the guidelines for the increases with the first tranch estimated to cost P36 billion.

“For this year po, we’re still finalizing… ‘Yung balanse po for the adjustment, puwede pong kunan sa (we can source from the) MPBF kasi meron pa po tayong (because we still have) more or less P19 billion diyan,” she said in a recent briefing by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) to the House of Representatives.

“And then ‘yung (the) balance po, kukunin po natin sa (we will get from the) Unprogrammed Appropriations po,” she added, with P158.6-billion worth of unprogrammed appropriations in the proposed 2025 budget. —KBK, GMA Integrated News