Civilian government workers are set to receive the last of four tranches of salary increases next year, the Department of Budget and Management said yesterday.

"The DBM wishes to note the last tranche of the modification of the salary schedule for civilian personnel pursuant to Republic Act No. 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law V will be implemented in 2023," the DBM said in a statement.

The announcement came in response to calls from several public sector groups to increase the minimum wage of government employees.

"Under the Fiscal Year 2023 National Expenditure Program, the DBM has provided around P47 million under the Governance Commission for GOCCs budget to support the conduct of a study on the government compensation structure of the different national government agencies and GOCCs, among others, ensure that the compensation of all civilian personnel will be generally competitive with those in the private sector doing comparable work to attract, retain, and motivate corps of competent and dedicated civil servants," the DBM added.

For the contract of service and job order employees, the DBM said it is already preparing the necessary executive issuance that it will endorse to the Office of the President.

"The DBM, as directed by the Budget Secretary, is also undertaking a review of the rates of the existing benefits being provided to qualified government employees to assess if these may need adjustment in the future," it said.

Republic Act 11466, which was signed by then-President Rodrigo R. Duterte on 8 January 2020, modified the salary schedule and raise the basic salary of civilian government personnel, and granted them additional benefits.

The increase in the basic pay of government workers, including nurses and teachers, is released in four yearly tranches from 2020 to 2023.

The law aims to motivate government employees to provide a higher quality of public service, reward exemplary civil servants, and recognize well-performing agencies.