DBM: Raising minimum wage of gov’t workers requires legislation 

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Thursday that raising the minimum wage for government employees will necessitate the passage of a new law.

Several groups have appealed for a minimum monthly salary of P33,000 for state employees amid the continuous spike in the prices of consumer goods and services.
 
Minimum wage earners in the government reportedly earn P12,517 per month. 

In response, the DBM said that “the increase in salary for government workers is carried out through a legislative measure.”
 
"Once House or Senate bills are filed, the DBM provides comments, input, and recommendations," the department stated.
 
Nevertheless, the DBM said that the last tranche of the modification of the salary schedule for civilian personnel pursuant to Republic Act 11466, or Salary Standardization Law V, will be implemented in 2023.
 
"Hence, the government employees concerned will have another salary adjustment by next year,” it said.
 
Under the fiscal year 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the DBM said it has provided around P47 million under the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) budget to support the conduct of a study on the government compensation structure of the different national government agencies and GOCCs, “to... ensure that the compensation of all civilian personnel will be generally competitive with those in the private sector doing comparable work to attract, retain, and motivate a corps of competent and dedicated civil servants.”
 
“Parallel to this effort, the DBM, as directed by the Budget Secretary, is also undertaking a review of the rates of the existing benefits being provided to qualified government employees in order to assess if these may need adjustment in the future,” it said.
 
On giving gratuity pay to job order and contract of service workers, the DBM said it is preparing the corresponding executive issuance for the purpose, which will be endorsed to the Office of the President for its consideration. — VBL, GMA Integrated News