PNoy OKs 10% hike in government employees' pension

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III has approved a 10-percent across-the-board increase in employees' compensation pension in the public sector.

Aquino signed on September 11 Executive Order 188 imposing the pension increase effective May 1.

The president approved the hike after the Employee's Compensation Commission (ECC) recommended the increase in the pension of government employees.

In his executive order,  Aquino cited a study conducted by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) which showed that the increase in employees' compensation pension for the public sector can be financed without requiring additional contributions from the national government.

Aquino directed the ECC and the GSIS to allocate and release the amounts necessary to cover the increase in employees' compensation pension from the reserves of the State Insurance Fund under the employees' compensation program.

Under the Labor Code, the ECC has the power and the duty to upgrade benefits and grant new ones for permanent disability or death, subject to the approval of the president.