Manila gov’t employees to get pay hike finally

MANILA, Philippines—Manila government workers will soon receive a pay raise mandated by law which they have been waiting for in the past two years.

This was the promise of Mayor Joseph Estrada when he delivered his first State of the City Address last week.

“I would also like to tell the employees of the City of Manila that the fourth tranche of their salary increase will be given to [them] this year,” he said.

“And if you clap and cheer louder, we will make it retroactive from January 2014,” Estrada went on to say.

City Hall employees who were among the estimated 4,000 people who listened to his speech cheered and applauded after the mayor made the announcement.

Estrada, however, did not give any details about the salary increase as the specifics, such as how much each employee would get and when exactly the hike would take effect, have yet to be ironed out by city officials.

All government employees were scheduled to receive the fourth tranche of wage hikes under the Salary Standardization Law in 2012 but at that time, city officials said there were no funds available.

Estrada, who in his speech criticized previous Manila mayors for driving the city government into debt, said that the city’s coffers have improved since he took over, which is why they could now implement the pay hike.

He attributed the improvement in the city’s financial standing to updated fair market values for real property and the 2013 Omnibus Revenue Code, both of which were enacted by the city council late last year.