MANILA, Philippines — Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Wednesday said implementing the new round of salary hike for government workers without passing the proposed budget for this year would be “unconstitutional.”
Diokno made the remarks in response to a statement by House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya (Camarines Sur), who threatened to sue the Budget chief if the pay adjustment will be delayed.
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At a press conference, Diokno said the Department of Budget and Management cannot implement the scheduled hike in 2019 “without legal basis.”
Diokno then cited Section 15 of Executive Order 201, which says that the wage increase is “subject to appropriations by Congress.”
“That is the law. So if I implement it the way he (Andaya) wanted it, ako naman ang magkakaroon ng kaso,” Diokno said.
“There’s really no legal basis for adjusting the pay. You cannot force me to do something which is unconstitutional,” he added.
Lawmakers went on their Christmas vacation last month without passing the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for this year. This means the national government will have to run using a re-enacted budget beginning January.
Under a re-enacted budget, new programs and projects proposed for 2019 will be unfunded since the previous outlay will be reused.
Andaya — who has accused Diokno of several budget anomalies — told the Cabinet official to “not make the re-enacted budget as an excuse in not implementing salary increases for our civil servants.”
“Considering the fact that the cash budget proposal this year is the same as last year, then a re-enacted budget covers the needed funding for the salary increases," Andaya said.
"The President's decision to extend the 2018 budget under Joint Resolution No. 3 also gives DBM more spending authority," he added.
But according to Diokno, the joint resolution — which extends the validity of 2018 appropriations for capital outlays and maintenance and other operating expenses or MOOE — does not cover personnel services.
Diokno also explained that pending the passage of the 2019 General Appropriations bill, government employees will continue to receive salaries indexed to the third tranche of the compensation adjustment.
“The implementation of the fourth tranche of compensation adjustments will be applied retroactively from January 1, 2019 once the 2019 GAA is signed into law. In effect, government employees will receive salary differentials within the year,” he said. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral