Registering 187 affirmative votes and five negative, the Lower House authorized the implementation of SSL 5 which will benefit government employees, including nurses and teachers.
National Government Agencies personnel will receive the increase in four tranches: first tranche to be released beginning Jan. 1, 2020, the second tranche on Jan. 1, 2021, the third tranche on Jan. 1, 2022, and the fourth tranche on Jan. 1, 2023. The five “nay” votes came from the Makabayan bloc whose members who noted that uniformed personnel enjoyed more of the government’s generosity.
Ungab said that consistent with the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address last July 2019, the proposed salary adjustments will cover all civilian personnel, including teachers and nurses. This shall cover government personnel whether regular, contractual, or casual; appointive or elective; and on full-time or part-time basis.