Repair flaws of wage bill, Duterte urged

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition lawmakers on Wednesday called on President Duterte to correct what they termed as flaws in the House-approved wage measure that, they said, laid out “meager” increases in the pay of government workers.

The lower house on Wednesday approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 5712, or the proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2019, which seeks to modify the salary schedule for civilian government personnel and authorize the grant of additional benefits.

ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said the President could tweak the measure and instead hand down a “substantial increase” for public employees.

Objections

Members of the Makabayan coalition had aired their objections to the measure, saying it does not meet the needs of lowly government workers.According to Castro, the approved salary increase is “very far” from the P30,000 minimum pay for public school teachers, and the P16,000 minimum pay that government workers have been clamoring for.

“What will come out of the additional P16 daily for utility workers? What can teachers buy with the added P52 a day?” asked Castro, a former classroom teacher.