By PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY- Dagupan Infocenter
STARTING July 1 this year, government workers will receive a 10 percent increase in their basic monthly salaries.

Executive Order No. 611 issued by President Macapagal-Arroyo on March 14, 2007 authorized the compensation adjustments for civilian officials and employees of national government agencies (NGAs) including state universities and colleges, government owned and/or controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions (GFIs) and local government units (LGUs) which are covered by the Compensation and Position classification System under R.A. No. 6758.

Government agencies which are exempted from the coverage of R.A. 6758 are not entitled to the pay increase.

GOCCs, GFIs and LGUs which do not have adequate funds to pay the compensation adjustments may partially implement the adjusted rates but on a uniform increase for all positions.

The Order also granted an increase of P30 per day in the subsistence allowances of military and uniformed personnel of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority as well as an increase of P120 per month in their hazard pay, also effective July 1.

The EO noted that the basic salary of government employees has not been increased since July 201 notwithstanding periodic wage adjustments granted to the private sector, and the continuous rise in the prices of basic commodities.

The subsistence allowance of the military and uniformed personnel was last adjusted in 1998, while the hazard pay has remained at P120 a month since its initial grant in 1987.

“There is an imperative need to improve the morale of the civil service through a more competitive compensation system that supports the economic well-being of government personnel,” the Order said, noting that “an efficient and effective civil service is crucial to the continuous development of our country.”