Noy EO eyed for government pay hike

MANILA, Philippines - With the fate of the proposed Salary Standardization Law 4 (SSL4) in limbo, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said he would ask President Aquino to issue an executive order to raise the salary of government workers this year.

“I think what we will try to do is give the President the option to issue an executive order just for the first year, anyway there’s a budget for it already,” Abad told The STAR in an interview on Saturday. “We leave that for the President to decide, but we will recommend the issuance of an executive order to reduce anxiety among the people.”

Abad said the executive order would not stop Congress if it decides to approve the SSL bill when it resumes session.

The Department of Budget and Management chief stressed the importance of legislation that would institutionalize the pay hike.

“The limitation of an executive order is that it is only good for a year when there is a budget,” Abad said.

The proposed SSL4 remains deadlocked at the bicameral conference over the indexation of the pension for military and uniformed personnel, which is included in the Senate version of the bill.

Abad earlier said the government has no budget to fund the indexation.

Abad allayed fears of some sectors that the proposed SSL would result in the removal of the existing Magna Carta benefits of state workers.