Subic employees make noise for salary hikes

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—At least 50 employees of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Thursday held a noise barrage in front of the agency’s administration building to revive their clamor for a salary adjustment.

Since Feb. 29, members of the SBMA Employees Association (SEA) have also been wearing black armbands to protest the delayed implementation of the salary standardization law among the agency’s employees.

According to Panfilo Jurilla, SEA director, SBMA employees are receiving at least 26 percent lower than their government counterparts.

The group, which has at least 300 members, is demanding the implementation of the executive order that would raise the salaries of some 1.5 million government employees.

“Our request has not been acted upon by President Aquino since 2011,” Jurilla told the Inquirer.

Aquino signed Executive Order No. 201 after Congress failed to approve the bill that would give government workers the salary increase that the Department of Budget and Management had announced in November 2015.

The increase, however, will not cover workers of government-owned and controlled corporations, including the SBMA.

“It’s my belief that with the President’s inclusive growth, no one will be left behind,” Jurilla said. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon