500 SBMA employees protest delay in pay raise

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—At least 500 employees of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Feb. 9 protested the delay in the increase of their salaries during a flag ceremony in front of the SBMA administration building.

The workers wore black armbands to dramatize their request for their salary increase to be implemented. The request, they said, has not been acted upon by President Benigno Aquino III.

“We are now currently receiving [salaries which are] 30 to 50 percent lower than our government counterparts,” said Jaime Menor Jr., secretary of SBMA Employee Association, in a statement.

Menor said SBMA workers have been asking the Office of the President to approve their pay increase since 2011.

SBMA Chair Roberto Garcia said the SBMA board of directors approved a 10-percent salary increase in Sept. 19, 2011.

The SBMA also wrote to Aquino in July 11, 2011, to seek approval of the salary increase.

“The proposal has been on the desk of the President for sometime now and we just have to wait,” Garcia added.

The SBMA, Menor said, had submitted all documents that the national government required for the implementation of the increase in the past four years.

He said their salary request was endorsed by various government agencies, including the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance, and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary on Sept. 10, 2014.

“Until this day, there is no action from the Office of the President,” Menor said.

The last salary increase for SBMA employees was made in 2008.

Speaking to reporters earlier on Feb. 5, Garcia said he supported another pay increase provided it was secured “according to the proper procedures.”

“It may take time but I’m very particular [about] following procedures. We can’t execute the salary increase without the President’s approval as we’re told by the OGCC (Office of the Government Corporate Counsel),” Garcia said. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon