Gov’t workers’ second tranche pay hike takes effect

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman signed Memorandum Circular No. 597 on Wednesday which provides the guidelines, rules and regulations for the second tranche of the salary increase for civilian government workers.

The Circular is issued in line with the implementation of the updated Salary Schedule for Civilian Personnel pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 64, Series of 2024, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in August 2024.

“In keeping with our President’s promise, we will implement the second tranche of the salary increase for government workers this January 2025,” Pangandaman said.

“We hope that this second tranche will provide much-needed financial relief and allow our government workers to better support their families, invest in their futures, and enhance their overall quality of life,” she added.

According to the DBM, EO 64 states that the updated Salary Schedule shall be implemented in National Government Agencies in four tranches, beginning on 1 January 2024 and continuing on the same date each year until its fourth and final tranche on 1 January 2027.

It added that the Circular applies to all civilian government personnel now existing or hereafter created in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches, the Constitutional Commissions and other Constitutional Offices, State Universities and Colleges, and Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) not covered by Republic Act (RA) No. 10149 and EO No. 150, s. 2021, regardless of appointment status, whether regular, casual, or contractual; appointive or elective; and on a full-time or part-time basis.

On the other hand, the Circular shall not apply to military and uniformed personnel, government agencies that are exempt from RA 6758, and GOCCs under RA 10149 and EO 150.

Individuals engaged without employer-employee relationship and funded from non-Personnel Services appropriations/budgets, such as consultants and experts engaged for a limited period to perform specific activities or services with expected outputs, laborers engaged through job contracts and those paid on piecework basis, student workers and apprentices, and those whose services are engaged through job orders, contracts of service, or others similarly situated are also included.

The Budget department said that funds required for the salary adjustment of the civilian government personnel in FY 2025 shall be charged against the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and any available appropriations under the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act, subject to budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations.

For GOCCs covered by the Circular, the amounts shall be charged against their respective corporate operating budgets, as approved by the DBM.