The President of the Republic of the Philippines, President Benigno S. Aquino III has issued an executive order (EO) imposing a 10-percent across-the-board increase in the compensation pension of employees in the public sector. Pres. Aquino signed EO No. 188 on September 11, 2015 but the complete details were released to the media on Thursday.
During the signing of the Executive Order, President Aquino said “there is a need to continually improve benefits under Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program to make them more responsive to the welfare and development needs of persons with work-related disabilities.
Pres. Aquino cited the Employees’ Compensation Commission’s (ECC) board resolution no. 15-01-01, the EO said the increase was pursuant to Article 177(e) of the Labor Code of the Philippines, which stated that the ECC shall have the powers and duties to “upgrade benefits and grant new ones for permanent disability or death,” subject to the President’s approval.
Based upon the Executive Order signed by the President, it will be made effective starting from 01 May 2015. The Executive Order stated that “The amount of EC pension for the public sector shall be increased by ten percent across-the-board, effective 01 May 2015; Provided that the stability of the SIF (State Insurance Fund) shall be guaranteed; and provided, further that, there is no corresponding increase in EC contribution from their employer, the national government,” the order read.
