- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Bacolod City government employees will receive higher pays following the approval by the Sangguniang Panlungsod Jan. 25 of the P30.59 million fourth and last tranche of the mandated salary hikes under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2019.
In its regular session Wednesday, the SP, under suspended rules, approved on first, second, and third reading an appropriation ordinance authorizing the implementation of the Fourth Tranche of the Modified Salary Schedule for Local Government Personnel under Republic Act 11466, or the SSL.
The SP favorably acted on the request of Mayor Alfredo Benitez, who said that the amount of P30,590,000 will be sourced from the Special Purpose Appropriation-Other Personnel Benefits Fund in the 2023 annual budget.
City Budget Officer Maria Imelda Williams told the SP that the fourth tranche is ready for implementation since the needed allocation has been included in this year’s annual budget of P3.25 billion.
Of the P30.59 million, P20.93 million is allocated for the salary hike of regular employees, P2.88 million for retirement and life insurance premiums, P2.02 million for yearend bonuses, P1.79 million other bonuses and allowances, P1.13 million for PhilHealth contributions, P944,205 for hazard pay, and P877,044 for the salary/wages of casual/contractual employees.
Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, in Local Budget Circular No. 149 dated Jan. 10, 2023, said the fourth tranche covers “all positions for salaried LGU personnel, whether regular, contractual, or casual in nature, elective or appointive, full-time or part-time…and all positions for barangay personnel (who are) paid (with) monthly honoraria.”
Excluded are those engaged without employer-employee relationship, and funded from non-Personnel Services (PS) appropriations/budgets, like consultants and experts engaged for a limited period to perform specific activities or services with expected outputs;
Laborers engaged through job contracts or pakyaw, and those paid on piecework basis; student workers and apprentices; and individuals whose services are engaged through job orders, contracts of service, or others similarly situated, the DBM circular states.
RA 11466 was signed by then president Rodrigo Duterte, and gives civilian government employees another round of salary increases, in tranches, from 2020 to 2023./CGC
