Aquino OKs salary hike for SBMA employees

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—President Aquino gave the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) the go-signal to implement a 10-percent salary increase for its employees, SBMA Chair and Administrator Roberto Garcia said on Thursday.

Garcia said the President granted their request for the wage increase, which was submitted to Malacañang for approval in 2011.

“A 10-percent [increase] was approved but [there are] no details yet,” Garcia told the Inquirer in a text message.

Garcia met Mr. Aquino early this week to secure the approval for the salary adjustment, said Ameth de la Llana-Koval, manager of SBMA’s planning and development office.

Koval said the approval of 10-percent salary increase was “good news and a blessing.” It’s the first step to justice, she added.

Aside from the pay increase, the employees were also working to get the salary standardization law (SSL) enforced in SBMA. Koval said the SBMA employees’ request to be covered by the government salary standardization program was submitted to the Department of Budget and Management.

On Wednesday, a group of SBMA employees petitioned the regional trial court in Olongapo City for a writ of mandamus to compel Garcia to set their salaries according to the SSL.

Lawyer Michael Tezon, legal counsel for SBMA employees, said they went to court due to Garcia’s “failure to perform his ministerial duties to execute SBMA board resolutions that would pave the way for the workers’ salary adjustment.”

“We believe that a writ of mandamus is the best remedy because the duty of the administrator is ministerial in nature, and that is to execute and implement all policies, orders and resolutions of the SBMA board,” Tezon told reporters here.

He said the SBMA board passed a resolution on Dec. 11 last year approving the salary increase for SBMA employees based on the SSL. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon