Drilon files gov’t workers’ pay hike bill; why now? asks Enrile

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Senate President Franklin Drilon filed a new bill that would increase the salaries of government workers, saying the measure was important to attract competent workers to the public sector and to get them to stay.

Drilon filed the bill along with finance committee chair Sen. Loren Legarda, and he said he hopes to have the measure approved by the Senate before the year ends.

Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said it was a good measure, although he wondered aloud about the timing of the bill, which President Aquino himself pushed for.

“Although late, it’s better than never, OK. But I question the motivation. Why now? Not Wednesday. All of a sudden, you realize the people are hard up? Is that the level of sensitivity, social sensitivity?” Enrile told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

But Enrile also said he would not make a conclusion on the matter.

According to Drilon, the economic conditions favor the proposal to increase the salaries of government workers.

“The economy is in the right course and we will take advantage of the favorable condition to raise the pay scheme in the government and align it with the compensation received by employees from the private sector,” he said.

According to him, better pay would entice government workers to stay in their jobs and attract competent applicants. He noted that there was a high turnover of positions in the government.

He also said the pay scheme in the government was 45 percent below market.

The difficulty in filling up vacant positions in a reasonable amount of time also hampers the smooth delivery of services, he added.

In 2015, there were 191,988 unfilled positions in government, he noted.

The proposed salary standardization law would cost P226 billion over four years.

Aside from increasing salaries, it would introduce an improved set of allowances and benefits, including 14th month pay, a mid-year bonus and an enhanced performance-based bonus which can be equal or double the monthly salary.