NOV 12, 2015

NR # 4016B

House of Representatives approves on second reading the proposed

Salary Standardization Law of 2015
The House of Representatives approved Wednesday night House Bill 6268 or the
proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2015 or SSL 4 principally authored by Speaker
Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., which will modify the compensation and position classification system
of civilian government personnel and the base pay schedule of military and uniformed personnel
in the government to be implemented in four tranches, starting Jan. 1, 2016.
Belmonte said the approval showed the House determination in providing a timely and
necessary pay raise to government personnel, which will enable the government to engage and
maintain the services of capable public servants who will best serve the needs of the Filipino
people.
Its been three years since the last tranche of the Salary Standardization Law or SSL 3
was effected and completed. Its about time we update the compensation and position
classification system for our government personnel to make their pay competitive with the
market rates and the private sector, said the Speaker.
The bill will likewise strengthen the link between pay and performance through an
enhanced performance-based bonus system, temper the cost of benefit while maximizing the
benefits of employees, and allow higher take-home pay, especially for government personnel
belonging to the lower salary grades.
The bill, co-authored by Majority Floor Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali M.
Gonzales II, Minority Leader and San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, Committee on
Appropriations chairman and Davao City Third District Rep. Isidro T. Ungab, and Committee on
Accounts chairman and Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona will result in a weighted
average increase of 45 percent in the compensation of all salary grades and raise compensation of
government personnel to at least 70 percent of the private sector rate.
During the hearing on the bill conducted earlier in the morning by the appropriations
committee, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad informed lawmakers that the SSL
4 will be effected through a combination of a salary increase, a 14 th month pay, and an enhanced
performance-based bonus to be implemented over a four-year period, from January 1, 2016 to
January 1, 2019.
Abad explained the SSL 4 is based on Joint Resolution No. 4 enacted by Congress in
2009, mandating the review of the compensation and position classification system after three
years from the last year of the adjustment to determine the competitiveness of government pay in
relation to the private sector and the compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to
market rate.
Abad said the last tranche of the previous SSL 3 was completed in July 2012. He said
despite the substantial duties and responsibilities of public servants, their salaries stand only at 55
percent, or around half, of current market rates.

Lawmakers have been waiting for executive departments submission of the SSL 4 bill
after DBM officials promised during the budget hearings to give the pay adjustment details.
Ungab said P50.4 billion had already been allotted in the 2016 national budget passed last
month by the House of Representatives for the implementation of SSL 4 first tranche this coming
January which will need a total funding of P57.9 billion.
Abad said he already wrote Senate President Franklin Drilon about the pertinent
adjustments to be made in the 2016 national budget to complete the funding balance of P7.5
billion.
Ungab said the funding requirements for the succeeding compensation adjustments are:
second tranche, P54.3 billion; third tranche, P65.9 billion; and fourth tranche, P47.5 billion.
The bill provides the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS) shall
apply to all civilian government personnel in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches,
Constitutional Commissions and other Constitutional Offices, Government-Owned or Controlled
Corporations (GOCCs) not covered by Republic Act 10149, and local government units (LGUs).
It shall cover government personnel whether regular, contractual or casual, appointive or elective;
and on full-time or part-time basis.
It provides that the compensation for all civilian government personnel shall be
competitive with those in the private sector doing comparable work in order to attract, retain and
motivate a corps of effective, efficient, professional, committed and competent civil servants.
Moreover, the compensation for the military and uniformed personnel shall likewise
promote pay equity for an effective, efficient, committed and motivated corps of officers and
enlisted personnel. The base pay increase for military and uniformed personnel shall take into
consideration the prevailing fiscal realities, particularly the effect on pension and the capacity of
the government to sustain the payment thereof.
Under the SSL 4, those lowest ranked personnel under Salary Grade 1, who are now
receiving P9,000/ month, will get P9,478/ month under Step 1 of the first tranche, P9,981 under
the second tranche, P10,510 under the third tranche; and P11,068 under the final tranche.
Those in the highest level of Salary Grade 33, who are presently receiving
P120,000/month, will get P160,000/month in the first tranche, P215,804 in the second tranche,
P289,4010 in the third tranche, and P388,096 in the final tranche.
The military personnel of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the uniformed
personnel of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine Coast
Guard (PCG) and the National Mapping and Resource-Information Authority (NAMRIA) shall
be covered by the Base Pay Schedule.
The remuneration for military and uniformed personnel shall be reckoned on a separate
Total Compensation Framework, to be authorized by the President of the Philippines, which shall
include: base pay; longevity pay, standard allowances and benefits; specific-purpose allowances
and benefits; and incentives and performance-based pay. (30) rbb