MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday appealed to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) not to hold “hostage” government workers’ salary increase. Drilon said DBM “does not have to wait for Congress to approve the 2019 General Appropriations Act” for it to enforce the fourth tranche of increase in salary of workers in government service. ADVERTISEMENT“The non-passage of the 2019 national budget is a non-issue in the implementation of the salary increase because the money is there and the authorization is there,” the senator pointed out in a statement. “Given the controversies surrounding the proposed 2019 national budget, it behooves us in the Senate to really dig deeper and scrutinize each and every item in the budget,” Drilon said. ADVERTISEMENT“I appeal to the DBM to implement the last tranche of the salary increase to help our state workers cope with inflation,” Drilon said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 08, 2019 10:41 UTC