President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law the proposed measure implementing the fifth round of salary increases for workers in the government, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on Wednesday night released photos of the President signing the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 5 into law at Malacañan Palace.

Duterte’s former aide and now Senator Christopher Lawrence Go witnessed the signing of the new law.

Malacañang has yet to release a copy of the newly signed law.

Under SSL-5, the salary adjustment will be implemented in four tranches from 2020 to 2023.

Around 1.4 million workers in the government, including public teachers and nurses, will benefit from the approved pay hike.

The biggest increases, ranging from 20 to 30 percent by a weighted average of 23.24 percent every year until 2023, would apply to government workers under Salary Grades 10 to 15 bracket.

Government employees with Salary Grades 1 to 10 would get an increased salary from 17.5 percent to 20.5 percent over four years.

Those who are under Salary Grades 25 to 33 would have the lowest increase of a mere eight percent.

The government will earmark a total of PHP130.45 billion for the implementation of the SSL-5. The President certified the proposed pay hike as urgent in December last year.

In a statement issued earlier Thursday, Go said around PHP34 billion was allocated in the PHP4.1-trillion 2020 national budget for the scheduled salary increases this year.

The senator also noted that the minimum basic salary of a government employee with Salary Grade 1 would now be raised from PJP11,068 to PHP13,000 following the signing of SSL-5.

“The President wants nothing less than a complete and holistic approach to the salary increase. Meaning, he wants all government employees to receive an increase,” Go said.

“In recognition of their invaluable contributions, our civil servants, the people who dedicate their everyday lives to the service of the Filipino people, must be given an opportunity to pursue a career in the service that would allow them to enjoy competitive wages, enough to address their personal needs and that of their families,” he added.

In a press conference earlier Wednesday, Department of Budget and Management Dir. Gerald Janda said government workers would get pay hikes beginning January 1 this year.

“When signed into law, the first tranche of the increase in the salary of government workers will take effect starting January 1, 2020 and we have already provided in the 2020 GAA certain amount for the implementation of this under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund,” he said. (PNA)