Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

8178

H.B. No.

Introduced by: HON. LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO

“AN ACT AMENDING SECTIONS 4 AND 8 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6758,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ‘COMPENSATION AND POSITION
CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1989’, AS AMENDED, THEREBY EXEMPTING THE
JUDICIARY FROM SAID.LAW, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

EXPLANATORY NOTE

One of the main issues that keep hounding the Judiciary is the low disposition rate
of cases in its dockets and the continuous non-filling of vacant positions in the Judiciary.
Due to these circumstances, the credibility and the integrity of the Judiciary is under
question given its slow adjudication of cases and the apparent absence of a genuine justice
system. It remains to be seen when the dockets will clear up and when will the
adjudication process speed up to provide justice to all the parties who go to courts seeking

immediate relief.

Clearing the cases in its dockets will require hardwork and sustained effort from
the Judiciary. However, without doubt, hardwork and sustained effort must also go hand-
in-hand with sufficient and competent personnel who can support this endeavor. To
attract new employees atid to keep its current crop, it is necessary to make the salaries of
Judiciary personnel proportional to the workload that these vacant and unfilled positions
offer. Therefore, increasing the salary of these Judiciary positions will"be more than
reasonable and justified given the circumstances prevailing in the institution. Along, with
that, the greater goals of reducing the delays in trials and case work and serving speedy

administration of justice will be achieved. Certainly, this will only help the institution gain


a better image in the eyes of the public and in turn, the people of this country will have a

renewed sense of confidence and trust in the courts.

Furthermore, in a time of rising prices of goods and services, the personnel in the
Judiciary, given their tireless and diligent work ethic, will more than welcome the hope
of receiving increased paychecks. For most Filipinos, they work because they want to be
able to provide something at home; they aim to contribute to their families and reduce the
financial struggles that they may be facing right now. This concept surely applies even to
the employees in the Judiciary. Just because they are working in the government does not

mean that they are already immune to the constant financial conundrums of society.

Hence, the circumstences of the present times: the low disposition rate of the courts
in this country, the necessity of a fresh crop of employees in the Judiciary, the high
inflation rate and the consequential rising prices of goods and services, have brought to
light this current measure. This proposed bill seeks to exempt the Judiciary from the
provisions of Republic Act No. 6758, otherwise known as the “Compensation and Position
Classification Act of 1989,” as amended. The approval and passage of this measure will
mitigate and address the aforementioned issues and will only redound to the benefit of

the entire Filipino people.
Ina time of effervescent changes in the nation, it is high time that the Judiciary be
strengthened and revitalized through its exemption from the provisions of the Salary

Standardization Law.

For the foregoing reasons, the immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO


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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HB. No. 8178"

Introduced by: HON. LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO

“AN ACT AMENDING SECTIONS 4 AND 8 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6758,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ‘COMPENSATION AND POSITION
CLASSIFICATION ACT OF 1989’, AS AMENDED, THEREBY EXEMPTING THE
JUDICIARY FROM SAID LAW, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

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

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Judiciary Exemption
from Salary Standardization Act of 2018.”

Sec: 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby deélared the policy of the State to
provide equal pay for substantially equal work and to base differences in pay upon
substantive differences in duties and responsibilities, and qualification requirements

of the positions.

The State duly recognizes and adheres to the Constitutional mandate that the
Judiciary shall enjoy fiscal autonomy. Moreover, the State acknowledges that the
appointment of all officials and employees of the Judiciary, as well as the
administrative supervision over all courts and personnel thereof, are within the

Constitutional powers of the Supreme Court.

It is the State’s desire to’ enable the Supreme Court to effectively fill the

authorized positions in the Judiciary by enhancing and strengthening its fiscal


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autonomy for it to set salaries commensurate to the extraordinary workload of its

courts and personnel thereof.

Sec. 3. Exemption of the Judiciary from Salary Standardization Laws. - Section
4 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6758, otherwise known as the “Compensation and

Position Classification Act of 1989”, as amended, shall be amended to read as follows:

Section 4. Coverage. - The Compensation and Position Classification System
herein provided shall apply to all positions, appointive or elective, on full
or part-tiine basis, now existing or hereafter created in the government,
including government-owned or controlled corporations and government

financial institutions.

The term “government” refers to the Executive[,] AND the Legislative [and

the Judicial] Branches and the Constitutional Commissions and shall

lude all, but shall not be limited to, departments, bureaus, offices,
boards, commissions, courts, tribunals, councils, _ authorities,
Administrations,’ centers, institutes, state colleges and universities, local
government units, and the armed forces. The term “government-owned or
controlled corporations and financial institutions” shall include all
corporations and financial institutions owned or controlled by the National
Government, whether such corporations and financial institutions perform

governmental or proprietary functions.

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT SHALL BE
EXEMPTED FROM THIS ACT AND ALL OTHER SALARY
STANDARDIZATION LAWS. PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 (6) AND
SECTION 6 OF ARTICLE’ VIII OF THE 1987 PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION, AS WELL AS SECTION 3 OF THE SAME ARTICLE,
THE SUPREME COURT, IN COORDINATION WITH THE
DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET MANAGEMENT, SHALL TAKE

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CHARGE iN FOKMULATING THE COMPENSATION AND
POSITION CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM IN THE JUDICIARY.

Sec. 4. - Section 8 of R.A. No. 6758 shall be amended to read as follows:

Section 8. Salaries of Constitutional Officials and their Equivalent. - Pursuant
to Section 17, Article XVIII of the Constitution, the salary of the following

officials shall be in accordance with the Salary Grades indicated hereunder:

The Department of Budget and Management is hereby authorized to
determine the officials who are of equivalent rank to the foregoing Officials,
where applicable, and may be assigned the same Salary Grades based on
the following guidelines:

GRADE 33 - This Grade is assigned to the President of the Republic of the
Philippines as the highest position in the government. No other position in

the government service is considered to be of equivalent rank.

GRADE 32 - This Grade is limited to the Vice-President of the Republic of
the Philippines and those positions which head the Legislative [and
Judicial Branches] BRANCH of the government, namely: the Senate
President[,] AND THE Speaker of the House of Representatives [and Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court]. No other positions in the government service

are considered to be of equivalent rank.

GRADE 31 - This Grade is assigned to Senators and Members of the House
of Representatives and those with equivalent rank as follows: the Executive
Secretary, Department Secretary, Presidential Spokesman, Ombudsman,
Press Secretary, Presidential Assistant with Cabinet Rank, Presidential
Adviser, National Economic and Development Authority Director General,

[Court of Appeals Presiding Justice, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice,]


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Secretary of the Senate, Secretary of the House of Representatives, and
President of the University of the Philippines.

An entity with a broad functional scope of operations and wide area of
coverage ranging from top level policy formulation to the provision of
technical and administrative support to the units under it, with functions
comparable to the aforesaid positions in the preceding paragraph, can be
considered organizationally equivalent to a Department, and its head to
that of a Department Secretary.

GRADE 30 ~ Positions included are those of Department Undersecretary,
Cabinet Undersecretary, Presidential Assistant, Solicitor General,
Government Corporate Counsel, [Court Administrator of the Supreme
Court], Chief of Staff of the Office of the Vice-President, National Economic
and Development Authority Deputy Director General, Presidential
Management Staff Executive Director, Deputy Ombudsman, [Associate
Justices of the Court of Appeals, Associate Justices of the Sandiganbayan,]
Special Prosecutor, University of the Philippines Executive Vice-President,
Mindanao State University President, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines President and President of other state universities and colleges

of the same class.

Heads of councils, commissions, boards and similar entities whose
operations cut across. offices or departments or are serving a sizeable
portion of the general public and whose coverage is nationwide or whose
functions are comparable to the aforecited positions in the preceding

paragraph, may be placed at this level.

The equivalent rank of positions not mentioned herein or those that may
be created hereafter shall be determined based on these guidelines.


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The Provisions of this Act as far as they upgrade the compensation of
Constitutional Officials and their equivalent under this section shall,
however, take effect only in accordance with the Constitution: Provided,
‘That with respect to the President and Vice-President of the Republic of the’
Philippines, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the Senators, and the Members of the House of
Representatives, no increase in salary shall take effect even beyond 1992,
until this Act is amended: Provided, further, That the implementation of
this Act with respect to Assistant Secretaries and Undersecretaries shall be
deferred for one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act and for Secretaries,
until July 1, 1992: Provided, finally, That in the case of Assistant Secretaries,
Undersecretaries and Secretaries, the salary rates authorized herein shall
be used in the computation of the retirement benefits for those who retire

under the existing retirement laws within the aforesaid period.

Sec. 5. Transitory Provision. - The Supreme Court, in coordination with the
Department of Budget Management, shali formulate the compensation and position
classification system in the Judiciary within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this
Act. In the meantime, the existing salary standardization laws shall continue to be in

force.

Sec. 6. Separability Clause. ~ If for any reason any section or provision of this
Act is declared to be unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions

thereof which are not affected thereby shail continue to be in full force and effect.

Sec. 7. Repealing Clause. ~ All laws, decrees, orders, rules or regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or
modified accordingly.

Sec. 8. Effectivity. - This Actshall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved.