Good news to government workers.
Last Saturday, 04 August 2024, the Presidential Communications Office announced that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 64, which raises the salaries of civilian government employees and provides them an additional allowance.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) meanwhile is already finalizing the guidelines for the approved salary adjustment.
The salary increase will come in four tranches. The first tranche begins on 01 January 2024.
According to the DBM, the additional cost of implementing the first tranche for national government employees in 2024 is estimated at approximately P36 Billion. These funds, the DBM added, will be sourced from available allocations under the 2024 General Appropriations Act Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund.
Since we are now in the second half of the year, the increase will be implemented retroactively. This means that employees will receive a back pay from January 2024 to July 2024.
It is likewise heartening to know that a medical allowance, not exceeding Php7,000.00 per annum, shall likewise be granted to qualified government civilian personnel, except those who are already receiving health maintenance organization (HMO)-based health care services, or those in the legislative, judicial, and other offices with fiscal autonomy.
I remember when I served in the Presidential Management Staff, I had to shell out personal money to be part of an HMO.
The medical allowance is a dream come true to my former principal, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman. This has been her advocacy since 2017. For the 2025 National Expenditure Program, P9.5 Billion has been allocated for medical allowance. Good job, Team DBM!
This is one tick of the State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) promise the President fulfilled less than two weeks after his SONA delivery.
It is also good to know that government acknowledges the prevailing economic circumstances as it accepts the fact there is certainly – in the words of the EO – an “erosion of purchasing power due to inflation.”
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects July inflation to accelerate between 4 to 4.8 percent – the first time in 2024 that the BSP’s inflation forecast range started on the high end of the Marcos Administration’s 2 to 4 percent target range.
We will know the exact figure within the day since the Philippine Statistics Authority is set to release inflation data anytime today, August 6.
With the salary adjustment, a Teacher 1, with a Salary Grade 11, for example will now get Php28,512 in 2024.
The salary increase is indeed a recognition of the hard work and dedicated service of government workers. We just hope they continue to serve our country and our people with excellence and integrity.
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Dennis Ting is a former director of the Department of Budget and Management.
