Bicol Saro Partylist Representative Brian Raymund Yamsuan has filed a measure that aims to allow the retroactive application of salary increases for employees of the local government units (LGUs), a privilege that they currently do not enjoy owing to restrictions set under the law.
Yamsuan, a former Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), said his proposed measure will ensure that LGU employees are treated the same as their counterparts working in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code (LGC) bars the retroactivity of pay hikes provided to LGU employees, which place them at a disadvantage as what has happened when President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recently ordered the implementation of a four-step increase in the base pay of government workers through Executive Order (EO) 64, Yamsuan said.
Yamsuan said Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has confirmed that funds are available to ensure that the salary increases will be retroactively implemented starting January 2024. Pangandaman has also pointed out that the LGC needs to be amended for workers in LGUs to have the same benefit.
To ensure that LGUs would not be unfairly treated, Yamsuan has filed House Bill (HB) 10865, which seeks to remove the restrictions under the LGC on retroactively applying salary increases or adjustments.
โHindi ito patas at hindi makatarungan sa ilalim ng ating Saligang Batas (This is not fair and just under our Constitution). The equal protection clause enshrined in our Constitution also applies within the sphere of public service. Employees in the LGU sector deserve to enjoy the same benefit of receiving retroactive pay increases mandated by the government,โ Yamsuan said.
Yamsuan said he hopes that his fellow lawmakers will swiftly act on his measure to ensure that the salary hikes mandated under EO 64 would also be retroactively applied for local government employees.
โFrom the local to the national level, civil service employees form the foundation of efficient government operations. Magkakaiba man ang kanilang posisyon at titulo, nasa mga lokal na pamahalaan man o nagtatrabaho sa mga national government agencies (Their positions and titles may vary, they may either be working in the local governments or in national government agencies, yet) they are all held to the same standards of professionalism, integrity, transparency and accountability. Kaya dapat ay pantay-pantay ang pagkakaloob sa kanila ng mga benepisyo (Thatโs why benefits should be equally granted to them),โ he added.
HB 10865, which Yamsuan filed last week, aims to amend Section 325 (g) of the LGC, which states that โthe creation of new positions and salary increases and adjustments shall in no case be made retroactive.โ
The bill removes the phrase โand salary increases and adjustmentsโ from this paragraph.
Yamsuan said the bill also mandates LGUs, in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to identify appropriate sources of funds required for the retroactive application of salary increases and adjustments.
Under the bill, the DBM โshall issue guidelines to ensure that LGUs are able to effectively allocate and manage the necessary financial resources to implement budgetary adjustments and/or realignment in accordanceโ with the measure.
Yamsuan noted that DBM Local Budget Circular 160 on the implementation by LGUs of the EO-mandated salary increases states that the pay hikes will only take effect upon the enactment of an ordinance and that this should be โpursuant to Section 325(g) of Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code), which states that salary increases or adjustments shall, in no case, be made retroactive.โ
โPassing the appropriate local ordinances to implement the salary increases take time. Habang lumilipas ang mga araw ay patuloy na nadedehado at nalulugi ang mga local government workers kumpara sa mga kapwa nila empleyado sa Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches (With each day that passes, local government workers continue to be at the losing end compared to their fellow employees in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches). We need to correct this inequity,โ Yamsuan said.
At least one LGUโthe provincial government of Iloilo–has already asked the DBM to allow the retroactive application of the EO-mandated salary increases.
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