NOV 11, 2015

NR # 4015C

House Committee on Appropriations approves proposed Salary

Standardization Law of 2015
The House Committee on Appropriations approved today House Bill 6268 or the proposed
Salary Standardization Law of 2015 also known as SSL 4 principally authored by Speaker Feliciano
Belmonte, Jr., which will modify the compensation and position classification system of civilian
government personnel and the base pay schedule of military and uniformed personnel in the government
to be implemented in four tranches, starting Jan. 1, 2016.
The Speaker lauded the priority and attention given by the appropriations committee chaired by
Rep. Isidro T. Ungab (3rd District, Davao City) to the measure, which he said is intended to benefit the
countrys 1.53 million government workers.
We laud the Committee on Appropriations for its support and swift action on the proposed
Salary Standardization Law of 2015 which aims primarily to raise the pay of the government personnel
to be competitive with the market and thereby attract and retain capable and committed personnel. It also
aims to strengthen the link between pay and performance through an enhanced performance-based bonus
system, temper the cost of benefit while maximizing the benefits of employees, and allow higher takehome pay, especially for government personnel belonging to the lower salary grades, said the Speaker.
Ungab said the passage of the bill was made possible through the support of the appropriations
committee members and vice chairmen.
I thank the appropriations committee members and vice chairmen for approving the measure,
which will certainly benefit our government workers. It will make their salaries in the government
competitive with the private sector or the market rates, said Ungab.
House Majority Floor Leader and Mandaluyong Lone District Rep. Neptali M. Gonzales II earlier
said in a press briefing that with the appropriations committee approval, chances are the measure will be
approved on second and third reading by the House today as they would ask the Presidential Legislative
Liaison Office (PLLO) to have it certified as urgent.
The bill, co-authored by Gonzales, Minority Leader and San Juan Lone District Rep. Ronaldo B.
Zamora, Committee on Accounts chairman and Bohol Lone District Rep. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona, and
Ungab, will result in a weighted average increase of 45 percent in the compensation of all salary grades
and raise compensation of government personnel to at least 70 percent of the private sector rate.
During the committee hearing, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad informed
lawmakers that the SSL 4 will be effected through a combination of a salary increase, a 14 th month pay,
and an enhanced performance-based bonus to be implemented over a four-year period, from January 1,
2016 to January 1, 2019.
The SSL 4 aims to: raise the pay of the government personnel to be competitive with the market
and thereby attract and retain capable and committed personnel; strengthen the link between pay and
performance through an enhanced performance-based bonus system; temper the cost of benefit while
maximizing the benefits of employees; and allow higher take-home pay, especially for government
personnel belonging to the lower salary grades.
Abad explained the SSL 4 is based on Joint Resolution No. 4 enacted by Congress in 2009

mandating the review of the compensation and position classification system after three years from the
last year of the adjustment to determine the competitiveness of government pay in relation to the private
sector and the compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to market rate.
Abad said the last tranche of the previous Salary Standardization Law or SSL 3 was completed in
July 2012. He said despite the substantial duties and responsibilities of public servants, their salaries
stand only at 55 percent, or around half, of current market rates.
Legislative action is urgently needed to allow the government to engage and retain the services
of capable personnel to best serve the needs of the Filipino people, said Abad.
Asked by Ungab where the balance of P7.5 billion will be sourced to complete the P57.9 billion
funding requirement of the first tranche of the SSL 4, Abad said he already wrote Senate President
Franklin Drilon about the pertinent adjustments to be made in the 2016 national budget to complete the
funding balance.
Ungab said P50.4 billion had already been allotted in the 2016 national budget passed last month
by the House of Representatives for the SSL 4 first tranche of implementation this coming January.
The bill provides the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS) shall apply to all
civilian government personnel in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches, Constitutional
Commissions and other Constitutional Offices, Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations
(GOCCs) not covered by Republic Act 10149, and local government units (LGUs). It shall cover
government personnel whether regular, contractual or casual, appointive or elective; and on full-time or
part-time basis.
Under the SSL 4, those under Salary Grade 1 who are now receiving P9,000/ month will get
P9,478/ month under Step 1 of the first tranche, P9,981 under the second tranche, P10,510 under the third
tranche; and P11,068 under the final tranche.
Those in the highest level of Salary Grade 33 who are presently receiving P120,000/month will
get P160,000/month in the first tranche, P215,804 in the second tranche, P289,4010 in the third tranche,
and P388,096 in the final tranche.
The military personnel of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the uniformed
personnel of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine Coast Guard
(PCG) and the National Mapping and Resource-Information Authority (NAMRIA) shall be covered by
the Base Pay Schedule.
The remuneration for military and uniformed personnel shall be reckoned on a separate Total
Compensation Framework, to be authorized by the President of the Philippines, which shall include: base
pay; longevity pay, standard allowances and benefits; specific-purpose allowances and benefits; and
incentives and performance-based pay. (30) rbb