Government workers to get P1T hike in clothing allowance

CEBU, Philippines — The over one million civilian employees of the national government will get a P1,000 increase in their clothing allowance next year.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the 1.12 million civil servants nationwide will already receive P6,000 for their official outfit of the day from P5,000. The government is expected to spend additional P1.12 billion a year for the increase.

Recto said that the increase will raise the total budget for clothing allowance to P6.71 billion in the 2018 national budget.  

Recto said the amount covers civilian employees and does not include the clothing supply for soldiers, policemen, firemen, and other uniformed personnel.

 The annual clothing allowance of policemen, firemen and jail guards whose agencies are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior and Local Government is about P14 million.

The senator said that the combined uniform budget of the DILG and the Department of National Defense—the latter for Army, Navy, Air Force servicemen—will reach P3.38 billion next year.

Overall, the government will spend P10.09 billion for the uniform and clothing expenses of its civilian and uniformed personnel next year.

Recto said that under the present rules, clothing allowances in an agency are pooled and the uniforms are bought in bulk, but in some cases, allowances are given directly to employees. (FREEMAN)