ILOILO City – The provincial government will be unable to provide funds for the fourth tranche of salary increase for government employees, said Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.
Defensor said this on Thursday after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 76, which stated that funding requirements for the salary increase this year shall be sourced from “any available appropriations” under the 2018 budget.
Defensor said the situation in the local level differs from that in the national. “In the first place, where will we source our fund?” he asked.
Citing Section 325 of the Local Government Code, Defensor stressed that the use of the provincial, city and municipal fund “shall be subject to the following limitations: Letter G: The creation of new positions and salary increases or adjustment shall in no case be made retroactive.”
He added that the opposition-led Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) allegedly “doesn’t mind the effects of the non-approval of the 2019 budget to employees.”
The 2019 executive budget of Iloilo has yet to pass the committee level.
The Association of Iloilo Provincial Government Employees (AIPGE) still awaits the increase in its members’ salaries.
On Feb. 19, the AIPGE forwarded a resolution for the SP Committee on Appropriations to pass the 2019 executive budget before the start of the election ban period.
SP Committee on Appropriations chairwoman Dorothy Paes already responded to the resolution, saying the committee “understands the concerns of the Board of Directors of the Association of Iloilo Provincial Government Employees and is one with the goal to pass the proposed 2019 Executive Budget as soon as possible.” (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
