Salary Standardization Law of 2015 on the Affirmative:

Give what is theirs

In the Holy Scriptures, Jesus preached to his disciples to give back to
Ceasar what is Ceasars, and to God what is Gods. Knowing the peoples
evil intent to pay imperial tax, He asked His disciples to tell the Pharisees to
render the amount owed to Ceasar.
The disciples were amazed by those words of Jesus Christ, who is
impeccable in His wisdom. For truth be told, God, royal majesties, and even
the humblest of people in the society deserve what they ought to. Workers,
even those working in the government, deserve standardized, equitable and
just compensation.
No less than the fundamental law of the land mandates that Congress
shall provide for the standardization of compensation of government
officials, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations
with original charters, taking into account the nature of the responsibilities
pertaining to, and the qualifications required for their positions.1
Congress heeded this constitutional mandate. In 1989, Republic Act
No. 6758 or the Compensation Classification Act was passed, directing the
Department of Budget and Management to establish and administer a
unified compensation and position classification system, that shall be
applied to all government entities as mandated by the Constitution. In 1994,
both the Lower and Upper Houses of Congress urged the President of the
Philippines to revise the then five-year-old compensation system to make it
more responsive to the economic needs of government personnel.
More than a decade has passed and the 14 th Congress recognized the
need to update further the Compensation and Position Classification System
in 2009 through Joint Resolution No. 4. The resolution authorized the
President to modify the system of the civilian personnel and the base pay
schedule of military and uniformed government personnel. In its
preambulatory clauses, the Resolution provided that an update of the
system would encourage excellent performance and productivity and clearly
distinguish differences in levels of responsibility and accountability among
government officials and employees.2
The current structure of the Salary Schedule causes the overlapping of
salaries between salary grades, thereby resulting to salary inequities
1 Section 5, Article IX-B, 1987 Philippine Constitution
2 Joint Resolution No. 4,

between positions. Also, the grant of benefits to selected professions under

special laws undermines the compensation standardization and equal
protection of the law clauses in the Constitution, distorts the standardized
compensation scheme and breeds demoralization among other government
personnel.3 And these faults found in the current system would exist until
the new Salary Standardization Law is passed.

After Joint Resolution No. 4

When Joint Resolution No. 4 was approved by Congress in 2009, the
Philippines was burdened with a fiscal deficit of 3.7 percent of Gross
Domestic Product. At that time, the economy had to endure the effects of
the global financial crisis.4 However, SB No. 3009 or the Salary
Standardization Law of 2015, admits that the economic picture is different
today. After curbing corruption and wasteful spending, implementing a slew
of fiscal reforms, and improving the revenue collection effort, the
government boasts of a better position to implement a new round of salary
increases in government.5

DBM Secretary Butch Abad said in a press conference, It is about

time for another round of increase. Joint Resolution No. 4, which mandates
the review of compensation every three years, was fully implemented in
2012. From then until 2015, the purchasing power of the pay of government
workers has been eroded due to inflation.6

3 Ibid
4 Explanatory Note of SBN 3009
5 Ibid
6 Proposed SSL 2015 to raise salaries and benefits by up to 45%; Compensation of
all personnel to reach at least 70% of market rates. Dbm.gov.ph. Accessed January
1, 2016. Available from http://www.dbm.gov.ph/?p=14211

Competitiveness of current pay

The budget chief said that current government pay, on average, is only 55%
of market rates.7 The proposed Salary Standardization Law is a move to
measure, the competitiveness of government pay in relation to the private
sector and the compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to
market rates. Human resource consulting firm Towers Watson was tapped
by the DBM to study the proposal for the standardization, which was
completed in July 2015.8
Abad said the study found that while the pay of sub-professional workers in
government matches or even exceeds those of their private sector
counterparts, professional workers get as low as 41 percent of market rates
as they move up the ladder. Middle managers, comprised of directors, only
get more or less a third of what their counterparts in the private sector get;
while executives are paid only about a quarter to a third as much. 9
Overall, government pay is 45 percent below market. SSL 2015 will further
enhance the market position of Salary Grades 1-7 since they will be at 4
percent to 54 percent above market. Salary Grades 8- to 17 will be
competitive to the market at 72 percent to 98 percent% of the market.
Salary Grades 18 to 24 will be at 70 percent of the market, he said.10

Job satisfaction among government workers

It cannot be gainsaid that salary affects job satisfaction. A survey report by
the Society for Human Resource Management on 2008 showed that for
employees, alongside job security, feeling of safety in the work environment,
communication between employees and senior management, opportunities
7 Aquino pushes bill to raise govt workers salaries. Rappler.com. Accessed
January 1, 2016. Available from http://www.rappler.com/nation/112199-salarystandardization-law-2015-aquino-abad
8 Ibid
9 Supra at Note 6
10 Supra at Note 6

to use skills and abilities, relationship with immediate supervisor and the
work itself, benefits and compensation are among the top contributors to
job satisfaction.11
The DBM chief has knowledge of this fact. Government agencies have been
having difficulty in recruiting and retaining senior technical staff/middle
managers. According to DBM data, the number of unfilled positions in
government is 191,988 or 12.53 percent of total authorized positions.
Agencies with the highest number of unfilled positions include the
Ombudsman, Commission on Audit (COA), Department of Agriculture, (DA),
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of
Finance (DOF), Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior
and Local Government (DILG).12
Salary Grades (SG) that are hard to fill are senior technical positions from
SG 21 to 25 where vacancies are between 26 to 41 percent of the total
authorized positions for the respective SGs. Among the positions that
belong to these SGs are senior accountants, lawyers, and division chiefs.
Abad recognized that the SSL is not a mere proposal for a salary
increase but an advocacy to further improve government service. With
competitive compensation, we intend to bolster the recruitment of agencies
that need to fill up vacancies in senior technical and middle management
positions, Abad said.13

The Promise of SB No. 3009

The explanatory note of SB No. 3009
prides that it addresses the
clamor for an increase in compensation and benefits to government
personnel. It mandates a four-year compensation increase for the national
11 2008 Job Satisfaction. Meeting the Needs of a Multifaceted Workforce: What
Matters Most? Shrm.org. Accessed January 2, 2016. Available from
http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/documents/08_jobsatsurvey_fi
nal.pdf
12 Supra at Note 6
13 Supra at Note 6

governments 1.53 million civilian and military and uniformed personnel.

The compensation package is composed of salary increase, mid-year 14 th
month pay and enhanced performance-based bonus system.14
The piece of legislation seeks to increase the base pay of covered employees
on the average by 27%, while the 14 th month pay will further raise basic pay
by 8%. The enhanced performance-based bonus is equivalent to 1 to 2
months basic salary or an average of 10% increase in basic pay. Further,
government personnel who perform a greater role and carry a heavier
responsibility in improving performance will receive a higher bonus.15
The first tranche of the adjustment will take effect on January 1, 2016, and
the subsequent three tranches on every January 1 thereafter until the final
tranche in January 1, 2019.
In structuring the compensation adjustment, five parameters were
considered: (1) the minimum basic salary Salary Grade 1 shall be
increased from P9,000 to P11,068 a month; (2) to attract and retain
competent and committed personnel, the new compensation level for all
salary grades shall be at least 70% of the market; (3) to recognize
differences in duties and responsibilities there shall be no salary overlaps;
(4)The link between pay and performance shall be strengthened, especially
for those in the higher salary grades; and The structure of the adjustment
should temper the cost of benefits (i.e. GSIS premiums and PhilHealth
contributions) and allow for higher take-home pay, especially for those in
the lower salary grades.16

Time is ripe
As previously discussed, Joint Resolution No. 4 requires the review of
compensation every three years. Inflation which caused the deterioration of
the competitiveness of current pay, the need to retain and recruit employees
for improved government service, and the ability of the State to provide the
14 Supra at Note 4
15 Supra at Note 4
16 Supra at Note 7

increase are enough reasons to put the Salary Standardization Law into
fruition. Unless a constitutional infirmity in any of its provisions is pointed
out, time demands for the passage of SB NO. 3009.
This is a demand for equity. For even if without the command of
Christ, human rationality is enough to say that everyone deserves what he is
rightfully due him. Government employees, indubitably, deserve all the
benefits promised by the Salary Standardization Law.