Taxpayers shell out P2 B daily for government salaries – report

MANILA, Philippines - Taxpayers are shelling out more than P2 billion a day for the salaries of the 1.2 million government officials and employees.

The amount does not include the hefty allowances that officials receive. The Commission on Audit (COA) report on compensation for 2014 shows that in some cases, allowances are five times the basic pay of an official.

Budget documents submitted to House appropriations committee chairman Rep. Isidro Ungab of Davao City show that the government will spend a total of P810.8 billion for salaries for 365 days next year, or P2.22 billion a day, including Saturdays and Sundays.

The allocation for salaries is 27 percent or nearly a third of President Aquino’s proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016 and is the biggest expense item.

The other expense items are infrastructure and other capital outlays, P645.4 billion or 21.5 percent of the national budget; maintenance and other operating expenditures (MOOE), P534.6 billion or 17.8 percent; allocations to local government units, P464.5 billion or 15.5 percent; loan interest payments, P419.3 billion or 14 percent; and support to government corporations, P127.1 billion or 4.2 percent.

Allocations for salaries for 2016 will increase by P64.8 billion from P746 billion this year. The 2015 appropriation translates to P2.044 billion a day.

Despite the fact that salaries are the biggest expense item in the national budget, the administration is planning another round of pay increase for its officials and personnel.

If the plan pushes through, Sen. Ralph Recto is proposing that the pay hike be limited to those with Salary Grades 11 to 13, or those receiving between P18,549-P19,887 and P21,436-P22,982 a month.

Recto said most state personnel are clustered around these three salary grades.

Three years ago, the government completed a four-year pay adjustment program that saw bureaucrats’ salaries double. For instance, the President’s salary went up from P60,000 to P120,000 a month.

The hiring rate for public school teachers is now P18,549 (Step 1 of Salary Grade 11). It used to be P3,000 only.

The Department of Education will have the biggest increase of P44.5 billion in allocations for salaries, from P229.6 billion this year to P274 billion next year.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government, which includes the Philippine National Police and Bureau of Fire Protection, will have an increase of P19.2 billion, from P75.1 billion to P94.3 billion.

Funding for salaries for the Department of Health will nearly double to P22.282 billion from P11.449 billion.

The Department of National Defense will have an additional P9.8 billion, from P53.7 billion to P63.5 billion, while in the judiciary, funding for compensation will go up by P2.3 billion, from P15.8 billion to P18.1 billion.

Compared to the judiciary, the Commission on Elections will have a bigger increase of P5.8 billion in allocation for salaries, from P3 billion to P8.8 billion.

The Office of the Ombudsman will have a small adjustment of P9 million, from P1.492 billion to P1.501 billion.

Congress (Senate and the House of Representatives) will have 150 million more for compensation, from P5.823 billion to P5.973 billion; while the Office of the President will have an additional P134 million, from P672 million to P806 million.