Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

2972
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by : Cong. Manuel T. Sagarbarria

EXPLANATORY NOTE

An efficient, justly compensated, and wellincentivized civil service is the
bedrock of a strong state and efficient government. Itis observed, however, that
the achievement of these goals are hindered by the exclusion of goverment
employees as minimum wage eamers under the coverage of Title Il of
Presidential Decree (PD) 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code
of the Philippines. While public servants are differently situated from private
employees, in that public service is imbued with public interest, it does not follow
that there is no need to rationalize the fixing of minimum wage of goverment
employees with Salary Grade | so that minimum standards of living are within a
framework of national economic and social development program that
‘addresses productivity, the demand for living wages, the needs of workers and
their families, the fair return of the capital invested and capacity to pay of the
government as employer, among others.

Thus, it is proposed that goverment employees with Salary Grade 1
should be considered minimum wage eamers and that the pertinent existing
agencies, i.e. the National Wages and Productivity Commission and the
Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards, should include them as
subjects of their respective mandates under the Labor Code.

MANDEL SRGARBARRIA

Re entative
2r4 District, Oriental Negros


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

2972
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by : Cong. Manuel T. Sagarbarria

AN ACT AMENDING ARTICLES 99, 121, and 122 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE
No. 442, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LABOR CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Declaration of Policy. —For the purposes of this Act, it
is hereby declared the policy of the state to rationalize the fixing of
minimum wages and to promote productivity-improvement
‘among employees of the government with Salary Grade 1, as
defined under Republic Act 6758, as amended.

Section 2. Amendment of Article 99 of the Labor Code. - Article
99 of P.D. No. 442, as amended, otherwise known as the Labor
Code of the Philippines is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ART. 99. Regional Minimum Wages. - The minimum wage
rates for agricultural, non-agricultural, and government
employees and workers in each and every region of the
country shall be those prescribed by the Regional Tripartite
Wages and Productivity Boards.

The minimum wage rates as determined by the Regional
Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards shall be the salaries
of government employees with Salary Grade 1, who shall be
considered as minimum-wage earners. The amounts
provided for by R.A. 6758, as amended, to those with Salary


Grade 1 in the Compensation and Position Classification
System are hereby repealed.”

Section 3. Amendment of Article 121 of the Labor Code. - The
second paragraph of Article 121 of P.D. No. 442, as amended,
otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines is hereby
amended to read as follows:

“ART. 121. Powers and Functions of the Commission. - x x x

The Commission shall be composed of the Secretary of Labor
and Employment as ex-officio chairman, the Director
General of the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) as ex-officio vice-chairman, a commissioner
of the Civil Service Commission, and two (2) members each
from private employees, government employee, private
employers, government employers sectors who shall be
appointed by President of the Philippines upon
recommendation of the Secretary of Labor and Employment
to be made on the basis of the list of nominees submitted by
said sectors, and who shall serve for a term of five (5) years.
The Executive Director of the Commission shall also be a
member of the Commission.

Xxx"

Section 4. Amendment of Article 122 of the Labor Code. - The
third and fourth paragraphs of Article 122 of P.D. No. 442, as
amended, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines is
hereby amended to read as follows:

“ART. 122. Creation of Regional Tripartite Wages and
Productivity Boards. — x x x

Implementation of the plans, programs, and projects
of the Regional Boards referred to in the second paragraph,
letter (a) of this Article, shall be through the respective
regional offices of the Department of Labor and
Employment, in the case of private employees, and the
respective regional offices of the Civil Service Commission, in
the case of government employees, within their territorial
jurisdiction; Provided, however, that the Regional Boards shall
have technical supervision over the regional office of the
Department of Labor and Employment and the Civil Service


‘Commission with respect to the implementation of said plans,
programs and projects.

Each Regional Board shall be composed of the
Regional Director of the Department of Labor and
Employment as chairman, the Regional Directors of the
National Economic and Development Authority and the
Department of Trade and Industy as vice-chairmen and two.
(2) members each from private workers’ private employers,
and government workers sectors who shall be appointed by
the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of
the Secretary of Labor and Employment, to be made on the
basis of the list of nominees submitted by the workers' and
employers’ sectors, respectively, and who shall serve for a
term of five (5) years; Provided, however, that on matters
relating to the minimum wage of government employees,
the Regional Director of the Department of Trade and
Industry shall not sit on the board, while the Regional Director
of the Civil Service Commission shall serve as chairman, the
Regional Directors of the National Economic and
Development Authority and the Department of Labor and
Employment shall serve as vice-chairmen. x x x"

Section 5. Implementation. - Upon the effectivity of this Act, the
National Wages and Productivity Commission and the Regional
Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards, as constituted by this act,
shall immediately promulgate implementing guidelines of this act
and conduct the necessary studies towards the issuance, within
one (1) year of the effectivity of this act, of wage orders that shall
set the various minimum wages of government employees with
Salary Grade 1 across the regions.

Section 6. Repealing Clause. - All existing provisions of law, rules,
regulations, guidelines, and other issuances inconsistent with this
Act are deemed repealed.

Section 7. Separability Clause. - If any provisions of this Act or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
the remaining provisions of this Act and the application of such
provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected
thereby.

Section 8. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15)
days from its publication in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper
of general circulation.