MANILA – After it was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte, the Senate and House of Representatives have passed the proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2019 (SSL V).
The SSL V, which aims to increase the salaries of more than 1.4 million government employees, especially those from Salary Grades 11 to 19, was approved by the Senate on Monday evening with a total of 21 senators agreeing with one abstention.
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, have approved their version of the measure on the second reading and is expected hurdle final approval within the week.
The Senate adopted the House version of the measure, where the salary adjustment would be given in four tranches starting in January 2020 and ending in 2023 to skip the bicameral conference meeting and allow the bill to go straight for Duterte’s signature.
The largest increases ranged from 20 to 30 percent for employees under Salary Grades 10 to Salary Grades 15, while the smallest increase would be eight percent for government workers under Salary Grades 23 to 33.
SSL V would give public school teachers salaries that were higher than their private sector counterparts by around 65 to 87 percent.
President Duterte on Monday certified the bill urgent allowing the Senate and House of Representatives to skip the three-day rule and approve the measure on third reading immediately after it is passed on second reading./PN
