INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Can government workers expect a wage hike next year?
According to Senator Jinggoy Estrada, the country’s economic managers “have already anticipated the need to allocate funds for salary restructuring in the 2025 national budget due to the escalating cost of living.”
“I was informed that there is a study on this matter, and we will wait for its submission in time for the budget hearings,” Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on labor, said in a statement on Monday.
“May sapat na panahon para pag-aralan ang pinapanukala ko na panibagong Salary Standardization Law (SSL),” the senator added, referring to Senate Bill No. 2611 he filed last March.
If passing a law, however, is not feasible for another SSL, then he said another possible solution is through the issuance of an executive order (EO), just like what former President Benigno Aquino III did in February 2016.
“He (Aquino) issued EO No. 201 to implement an increase in the salaries of government employees when Congress failed to ratify a new SSL,” Ejercito said.
The senator remained hopeful that his bill would be considered as workers’ need to cope with the skyrocketing prices of goods in the country.
In the meantime, Ejercito said he expects the Department of Budget and Management to present when Congress deliberates on the 2025 national budget, a comprehensive study on the feasibility of providing an additional round of salary increments for government workers in the upcoming years.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has already ordered a review of minimum wage rates across the country.
“As President, I call upon the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board to initiate a timely review of the minimum wage in their respective region with due consideration to the impact of inflation, among others, within 60 days prior to the anniversary of their latest wage order,” Marcos said in a speech on Labor Day.
The highest minimum daily wage of P610 is being implemented in Metro Manila.