BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – A City Hall employee has asked Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman to clarify the 21-month salary increase discrepancy of the city government’s employees.
Andrew Murray Durano, an Administrative Assistant I at the Office of the City Veterinarian, sent his position paper seeking guidance from Pangandaman on the implementation of the salary increase for government workers under Republic Act No. 11466, known as the Salary Standardization Law of 2019.
Durano informed Pangandaman about the predicament of more than 2,000 employees of the City Hall, whose salary increases have not been in the past 21 months as mandated by the Salary Standardization Law (SSL).
Mayor Jerry Treñas earlier challenged Durano to run first for mayor should the latter want to debate the unreleased salary increase deficit.
“If he wants to have a debate, then he should run for mayor so we can have a face-to-face debate,” Treñas said during the press briefing.
The mayor clarified the city government has no legal basis to release the salary deficit under the Republic Act (RA) 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991.
“Wala kita basis nga mag-retroact, kung may basis kita tani dugay na ina nga retroactive kita,” Treñas explained, adding that amendments to the Code are needed before the local government units (LGUs) can implement retroactive salary increases.
“Once amended, every time there is a salary standardization, we can apply it retroactively,” the mayor stressed.
If the city government releases the salary backlog without legal basis, Treñas that such may result in disallowance by the Commission on Audit.
Hence, he said it would be better for Durano to just wait for the legal opinion of the City Legal Office on the matter.
Budget Secretary Pangandaman has recently proposed amending the Local Government Code to allow retroactive salary increases for local government workers.
“We need to change the [Local Government Code], the law there … Help us lay it out so that you will not be exempted, you can do it retroactively,” Pangandaman told the Public Financial Management Competency Program.
In a statement, Pangandaman also pointed out that the Local Government Code of 1991 does not allow retroactive changes in how local government unit (LGU) employees are paid. This means that local governments cannot adjust past salaries or benefits based on new standards.
The Iloilo City Council recently unanimously approved the P411.35-million supplemental budget, which includes a P19 million allocation to cover the across-the-board salary increase of about 2,000 City Hall employees.
City Budget Officer Viminale Capulso said the four percent across-the-board salary increase, which took effect on Aug.2, is based on Executive Order 64 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which provides the updating of the salary schedule for civilian government personnel.
However, Capulso clarified the supplemental budget does not cover the supposed 21 months in back pay, which the city government did not implement according to Republic Act No. 11466, known as the Salary Standardization Law of 2019./PN
