Sen. Antonio Trillanes III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Raising the monthly pay of the President of the Philippines to up to P1 million was among the proposals in the Senate to curb corruption in government.
At present, the President only receives P120,000 pay a month.
“One proposal is to raise it to P1 million. Then it’s the same with the Cabinet Secretaries, it should be around P600,000 to P800,000 a month,” Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV said in mixed English and Filipino during a weekly forum at the Senate on Wednesday.
This way, he said, the problem of corruption in government would be addressed if the salaries not only of the President but also of other government officials as well as civil servants, including military and uniformed personnel, would be raised.
It was Trillanes, who initiated Senate Bill No. 1689 or the Salary Standardization Law 4, which proposes an “omnibus compensation and position classification system for civil servants, and military and uniformed personnel.”
From P9,000, the bill seeks to raise the base pay of the lowest government rank Job Grade 1 to P16,000.
The proposed legislation also aims to raise the base pay of military and uniformed personnel from P23,000 to P282,800 for a four-star general.
Trillanes then dubbed his bill as an “anti-corruption measure.”
“Due to the competitive compensation package, our public servants will no longer consider resorting to unscrupulous activities in order to augment their meager income, and, instead, focus their efforts and energy to public service, curbing corruption and cutting red tape,” he said in a separate statement.
“Our civil servants serve as the front line of our government in providing our people with basic needs and public services. They are the backbone of governance and administration.”
“Thus, it is a matter of duty for the government to ensure that our civil servants are being cared for, and are able to provide for their personal and family needs. In the end, it is the people who will benefit from a better compensated and corruption-free bureaucracy,” he further said.
With the improved civil service structure and compensation system that is at par with the private sector, the senator said, the government would be able to attract, retain, and maintain a corps of competent civil servants and military and uniformed personnel.
He also hopes that the passage of the bill would prevent the exodus of professionals, scientists and highly skilled workers to better paying jobs abroad.
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