This is an addendum to my post of March 19th on the impending 10% pay hike of government workers. I stated (quoting a Senate press release) that by March 23rd whether or not the President signs the bill authorizing the salary increase - it will just the same, become a law. Indeed, on March 23rd, all the major dailies carried a news item that the 10% salary increase was approved by the President.
Just to straighten things out. The President did not sign the bill into a law. Instead, she issued Executive Order No. 611 on March 14th, ten days earlier than the statutory deadline of March 23rd. In todays news from the Senate, re-electionist Senator Ralph Recto, the principal author of the bill noted that the EO is a "carbon copy" of the Congress-approved bill that was sent to Malacanang on February 22nd. In effect, with EO 611, the bill granting the same benefits to government workers was effectively vetoed.
Is the President justified in jumping the gun on the Senate and the House? A closer look at the bill shows that it contains a provision repealing PD 1597 of the Marcos era, giving Presidents the authority to grant allowances. If she had approved the Congress version of the pay hike, that flexibility to give government employees additional benefits in the future would have been lost.
Anyway, as Senator Recto puts its: "The President can take the credit for as long as the government workers can have the cash".
2 comments:
is the issuance of the executive order 611 (particularly Section 6 of EO 611) could amend or repealed the basis of computation of benefits covered by special law (especially those benefits based on basic pay)?
PD 1597 vests the President the power to adjust the compensation and other benefits of govt. personnel. As of the issuance of EO 611, that PD has not yet been amended. It's a matter of legal interpretation and nobody has yet questioned that presidential prerogative before the court.
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