Government workers can look forward to another pay increase next year with the allocation of P16.95 billion for the purpose in the proposed 2024 national budget, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Meanwhile, the DBM also allotted P105.6 billion for state universities and colleges (SUCs) under the proposed P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024.
In a related development, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the proposed national budget for 2024 is “woefully unfit” to address the continuing economic crisis being faced by Filipinos.
In a statement, the DBM said the projected budget for salary hikes of state workers was provided for by the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) as stipulated in the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the salary adjustments may be implemented starting next year.
“The amount of P16.95B was determined to approximate the cost in the possible increase, between two to eight percent, in the monthly basic salary of the different positions in the national government,” Pangandaman said.
She noted earlier that the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) received about P48 million this year for payment to a special services group that will conduct a comprehensive review of the Compensation and Position Classification System for the government sector.
Pangandaman said the planned implementation of another round of salary increases is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to ensure that the compensation packages in government is “generally competitive” with the salaries of workers in the private sector.
“The final cost requirement [of the increase] shall be determined once the results of the study have been presented and finalized,” she said.
“Ito po ay para ma-encourage ang ating mga kababayan na pumasok sa gobyerno, at para na rin po ma-motivate ang ating existing employees na manatili sa gobyerno at mag-perform nang maayos,” Pangandaman added.
Under Republic Act 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law of 2019, the last tranche of salary hikes for government employees was implemented in January this year.
The modified Salary Schedule for civil personnel was implemented in four tranches starting 2020.
The DBM has also included the allocation of P1.37 billion in the proposed 2024 NEP to fund the additional P1,000 in the uniform or clothing allowance of over 1.3 million government employees.
The DBM has also been conducting a separate review of the various benefits received by different ranks of the civil service to determine if there was need to adjust them.
The DBM said the allocation for the SUCs would support free tertiary education in SUCs as well as address learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his budget message, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted the importance of access to free tertiary education for Filipinos as most educational institutions were already conducting full face-to-face classes.
“With 99.5 percent of our public schools now implementing five-day in-person classes, this amount will fund significant investments in the education of over 28 million learners nationwide,” Marcos said.
“Echoing the pronouncement of our President, alongside the strengthening of our economy, we will also invest heavily in human capital development through education, health, and social protection,” Pangandaman said.
Of the total allocation, the DBM said P21.7 billion will be earmarked for 116 SUCs under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE) program which guarantees free tertiary education to 3,145,098 students across the country.
“Access to quality education will also be at the forefront of the government’s education agenda through the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education,” said the Budget chief.
The DBM also said the proposed UAQTE budget for SUCs was increased by almost P3 billion or 14.32 percent higher compared to the P18.8 billion budget from the 2023 NEP.
Another P26 billion was also allotted under the UAQTE budget to support the programs of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), as well as another P3.4 billion for the free technical-vocational education and training of 38,179 enrollees and 10,126 graduates of the government-run Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
The DBM said the SUCs will also receive P3.4 billion for their infrastructure projects.
“Improving education facilities is essential for creating a conducive learning environment for all learners, including those in remote and hard-to-reach areas,” said Marcos in his budget message.
“A well-equipped and well-designed classroom can foster a positive atmosphere for learning,” Marcos said, reaffirming that “all projects will be implemented in all corners of the country, including the underserved areas.”
Furthermore, the DBM said it granted a total of P924.7 billion for the education sector, equivalent to 16 percent of the proposed P5.768 trillion 2024 budget plan.
“The proposed budget is not enough to address the current crisis,” the opposition senator said.
“The rosy pictures being painted by the administration do not reflect the troubling reality being faced by Filipinos, especially those in marginalized sectors,” she added.
The government’s pronouncement of “better economic situation,” was contrary to the current predicament of our people, Hontiveros noted.
She attributed the “unfit condition” to the reduced funding for programs meant to assist persons affected by high prices and lack of meaningful livelihood.
She said the country and the world continues to be in crisis mode, and continues to be faced by new challenges.
“The budget as it is being expended and proposed is not fit for that purpose,” said Hontiveros during the briefing by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
Hontiveros said that the country’s economic managers have admitted that inflation during the first semester caused a slowdown in gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
She also pointed to rising prices of rice and other food products – due to recent floods, the El Nino phenomenon, and import limitations being imposed by ASEAN exporters – along with increasing costs of oil and petroleum products due to the Ukraine conflict.
The senator then quizzed the executive officials from the DBCC on whether the government has begun to enact any non-monetary measure to drastically bring down prices of basic goods, and if any such measure is reflected in the 2024 budget.
If the executive branch is unwilling to proceed with such non-monetary measures, Hontiveros noted that the national budget should instead incorporate funding for “safety nets” or assistance programs that would allow more vulnerable persons and households to cope with rising inflation.
According to Hontiveros, the 2024 national budget “should not be in denial of the hardships” being faced by Filipinos, especially when various reports confirm the direct impact of the economic crisis on the day to day situation of families nationwide.
She cited a few studies evidencing the real economic situation of Filipinos including the Social Weather Stations survey in which half of Filipino families or around 14 million households considered themselves poor during the first quarter of 2023; the SWS survey revealing more Filipinos have experienced involuntary hunger in the second quarter; and the Kantar Philippines report in which seven out of 10 Filipinos are worried about rising grocery prices.
“This is a time of crisis, and the 2024 national budget should reflect that fact in the form of greater assistance to our people.”
For her part, Senator Pia Cayetano lauded the DBCC for anchoring next year’s proposed budget on sustainability principles, and in preparing the country for future challenges.
At the same time, she highlighted major sustainability issues that she said must be prioritized to help fulfill the stated objectives of next year’s proposed NEP.
Cayetano made these remarks at the start of the Senate’s deliberations on the proposed national government budget for 2024, which was a briefing by the government’s top economic managers.
“I’d like to commend the DBCC for choosing a title for the 2024 NEP that they know will make me and Senator Loren Legarda, happy – ‘Securing a Future-Proof and Sustainable Economy,’” said the Cayetano who chairs the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovations, and Futures Thinking (SDGIFT).
“It’s our committee, the SDGIFT that really tries to tie in everything that the government is doing. So I’d like to throw you a few examples of the work that we have been doing, precisely because no one is really leading the show. And this is where I’d like to bring it back, probably to the National Economic and Development Authority,” she stated.