The passage of the P4.1-trillion 2020 General Appropriations Act, which the Senate ratified and adopted last week, topped the list of the upper chamber's accomplishments in the first four months of the First Regular Session in the 18th Congress following its adjournment Wednesday for a one-month Christmas legislative break.
In the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, voting 187- 5, approved on third and final reading a bill increasing the salary of government employees starting January 2020 up to 2023.
The House, in plenary session, approved House Bill 5712 or the 5th Salary Standardization Law which grants a 23.24 percent overall average pay hike to the country’s 1.4 million state workers upon full implementation.
The chamber passed the bill two days after the Senate approved its version last Monday. President Rodrigo Duterte certified the bill as urgent.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said regular sessions would resume on Jan. 20, 2020, Monday.
“We opened the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress with a new batch of senators raring and eager to buckle down to work, and I am happy to note that we were able to file a record number of bills and resolutions, foremost of which is the P4.1-trillion 2020 budget,” he said.
He said the budget was the most important law of the land.
By approving it well ahead of the Christmas break, “we will be spared the difficulties arising from a re-enacted budget as had happened earlier this year.”
He said the reenacted budget delayed projects and, worse, delayed salaries of national and LGU employees for the first quarter of 2019.
Since the start of the 18th Congress last July 22, the senators had filed a total of 1,154 bills and 210 resolutions.
The Senate successfully passed Republic Act 11462, the first law passed by the 18th Congress, principally sponsored by Senator Imee Marcos.
It postponed the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections formerly scheduled for next year and moved these to Dec. 5, 2022 for which the government would have allocated P5.77 Billion, according to the Commission on Elections. This was followed by the Malasakit Center Act (R. A. No. 11463), principally sponsored by Senator Bong Go, that will establish Malasakit Centers in all government-owned hospitals of which 54 have been established, the most recent was in Antipolo, Rizal.
The Senate passed the following on Third and Final Reading: the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims Act (SBN-1122), the Night Shift Differential Pay (SBN 643), the National Transportation Safety Board Act (SBN 1077), an Act Fixing the Validity Period of the License to Own, Permit to Carry and Registration of Firearms (SBN 1155), the Salary Standardization Law 5 (SBN 1219) and Establishment of Separate Facilities for Prisoners Convicted of Heinous Crimes (SBN 1055), Amending the National Internal Revenue Code by Increasing the Excise Tax on Alcohol, Heated Tobacco and Vapor Products and for other purposes (SBN 1074), among others.
Also approved by the Senate was House Bill No. 5437 extending the availability of the 2019 appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlays (CO).
It also adopted 21 Resolutions, noteworthy of which is Adopted Resolution No. 22 – that expressed the sense of the Senate opposing liberalization of the sugar industry in order to protect the livelihood of millions of sugar workers and agrarian reform beneficiaries; SRN 18 recognizing the 70th anniversary of the Philippines and Republic of Korea relations; SRN 8, reconstituting the special committee on Marawi City Rehabilitation.
“We went head on against negative issues by steadfastly tackling serious issues afflicting the country’s jails, the illegal drugs problems, rising HIV cases and decline in incomes of rice farmers and hograisers due to calamities, diseases and import liberalization. However, the first four months also saw the Senate positively united in support of the stellar performance of our athletes with Resolutions filed to honor athletes in windsurfing, arnis, weightlifting and wushu during the recently concluded South East Asian Games hosted by the Philippines. Indeed, it was a productive six months of 2019,” added Zubiri.
Under the House bill, Salary Grade 1 employees will receive a measly P2,000 increase or P500 each year from 2020 to 2023. SG 1 will increase from P11,000 to P13,000 by 2023.
The basic salary of public school teachers (Teacher 1) will increase from P20,754 to P27,000 after four years.
Militant lawmakers opposed the bill’s passage.
But Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, earlier said the SSL V was based on a study conducted by the DBM, which they believed was “well-prepared.” Some P34 billion was allocated for SSL V’s implementation under the proposed 2020 national budget, he said.
By 2023, Teacher 1 will receive a 30.1 percent pay increase, while Teachers 2 and 3 will enjoy a 27.1 percent and 24.1 percent augmentation, respectively, Ungab said.