Pay hike order reviewed
Despite the deadlock in the bicameral conference committee on the proposed Salary Standardization Law 4 (SSL-4), government workers may have the chance to receive the first tranche of their salary increase once President Aquino signs an executive order (EO) to implement it. A draft EO, submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), is now being reviewed by President Aquino’s staff, Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said yesterday. “According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., the draft executive order prepared by the DBM on the implementation of the first tranche of salary standardization for government employees, as provided for in the 2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA), is now undergoing review by the OP (Office of the President) legal staff,” Coloma said. Earlier, the DBM noted that a total of P57.9-billion appropriation is included in the GAA of 2016 to fully cover the first tranche of salary increase. Coloma [...]