CA upholds SSS right to set pay level of employees
By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:49:00 08/25/2008
Filed Under: Labor, Wages & Pensions
MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals has upheld the legality of a provision in the Social Security System law which authorizes the pension fund to set the amount of compensation of its employees and exempts them from the Salary Standardization Law.
The appellate court dismissed the petition of the Abakada Guro party-list group, through its president Samson Alcantara, which sought to have the provision declared unconstitutional for leading to the depletion of SSS funds when it allowed the agency to set the salaries “in an exorbitant, excessive or unnecessary manner.”
Alcantara earlier argued that the SSS law violated the constitutional provision that tasked Congress with standardizing the compensation of government workers.
The law also constituted an undue delegation of legislative power for not providing sufficient guidelines to the SSS in setting the salaries, and turned SSS employees into a special class, thus violating the equal protection clause in the Constitution, Alcantara said.
In the Aug. 5 decision penned by Justice Mario Guariña III, the appellate court said that given the nature of the SSS, its exemption from the Salary Standardization Law was valid, and proper criteria for setting the salaries were in place.
It said Congress' mandate to standardize the salaries of government employees was not absolute, and the legislative branch could make exemptions.
“From a historical perspective, government-owned or -controlled corporations are exempted from salary standardization laws, and the exemption granted to the SSS under its 1997 charter perpetuates the tradition,” it said.
The court also said the constitutional provision granting equal protection to individuals in similar circumstances was not violated because the SSS is classified differently in light of its nature.
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