PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently announced she has signed an Executive Order (EO) granting 10-percent increase in the basic pay of government workers effective July 1.
The President made the announcement after sitting in on the deliberations of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of Region III last May 1.
Funds for the salary increase will be taken from the 2008 national budget, which includes a P41 billion allocation for miscellaneous benefits of government employees.
Earlier, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said the EO would be similar to last year’s issuance which granted civilian employees of the national government a 10 percent increase in their basic salary.
Last year’s EO also granted a P1,200 increase in the monthly subsistence and other allowances of policemen, soldiers and other uniformed personnel.
Andaya explained that a10-percent increase in the basic salary of the employees of the national government would require more than P9 billion over a six-month period.
Similarly, a 10 percent increase in the basic salary of some 277,900 policemen, soldiers, firemen, jail guards and Coast Guard personnel alone would cost an additional funding of P2.84 billion for six months. (PIA)