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Budget must first be approved before wage hike can happen
The scheduled wage hike for government workers this year may only be implemented once the 2019 budget is passed into law, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Wednesday.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno noted Wednesday there would be no legal foundation for the fourth salary adjustment without the proposed 2019 general appropriations law enacted.
“The DBM cannot implement the scheduled hike for 2019 without legal basis, which is still pending in Congress,” Diokno told reporters during a press conference in Pasig City.
“This is a free country. He can file,” Diokno said Wednesday, noting that the absence of an enacted General Appropriations law makes the 2019 salary increase unconstitutional.
“There’s no legal basis for adjusting the pay ... You cannot force me to do something which is unconstitutional.”
The salary increase should be reflected when employees get their salaries on January 15.
Diokno emphasized, however, that Executive Order 201 series of 2016 was explicit that implementing the salary adjustment is “subject to appropriations by Congress.”
“The DBM ... shall be ... authorized to implement or adjust the compensation corresponding to the appropriations provided by the GAA,” according to the EO’s Section 15.
Once Congress approves the 2019 budget, Diokno said the salary adjustment will be a retroactive implementation.
“The implementation of the fourth tranche of compensation adjustments will be applied retroactively from January 1, 2019, once the general appropriations bill has been passed,” he explained.
