SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go lauded President Rodrigo Duterte for signing Republic Act No. 11701 which grants night differential pay to government employees, including those in government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), working between 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.

The law signed by Duterte was released on Monday, May 16. Under the Act, government employees with the position of division chief and below, whether the nature of their employment are permanent, contractual, temporary or casual, shall be paid a night differential pay not exceeding 20% of their basic hourly rate.

The hourly basic rate refers to the basic salary rate per hour derived by dividing the basic monthly rate by 22 working days and dividing the quotient derived by eight hours.

RA 11701 shall not diminish other benefits or allowance that the covered government employees are currently entitled to.

“Sa pagpasa ng batas na ito, inaasahan natin na magiging effective and efficient ang pagbibigay ng serbisyo sa ating mga kababayan,” Go remarked.

“Kami naman po sa gobyerno ay talagang wala pong pahinga sa paglilingkod sa bayan. Kaya naman nagpapasalamat ako kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa pagsasatupad nito,” he continued.

Meanwhile, government employees whose office hours are from 6:00 am to 6:00 p.m. are not covered under the law. Instead, they will be given overtime pay if they work beyond their regular work schedule.

Government employees whose services are required to be on-call 24 hours a day, such as uniformed personnel of Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Bureau of Fire Protection, among others, are likewise not covered by the law.

“Ito po’y pagkilala natin sa mga sakripisyo ng ating mga kawani ng gobyerno para sa bayan. Alam ninyo, napakahirap po lalung-lalo na po ‘yung mga health workers natin sa panahon ng pandemya. Bigyan po natin what is due to them. At kung ano po ‘yung pwedeng ibigay sa kanila na pondo po ng gobyerno, ibigay po natin sa kanila,” Go said in an interview after his personal visit to fire victims in Quezon City on May 17.

The Civil Service Commission, in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management, shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the Act.

For the national government entities, the amount shall be charged against existing appropriations for the purpose of the departments, bureaus, offices, and agencies concerned.

Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the continuous implementation of the law shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

On the other hand, for local government units, the amount shall be charged against their respective funds, subject to the provisions of Section 325 and 331 of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991. Lastly, for GOCCs and their subsidiaries, the amount shall be charged against their respective corporate funds.

“Alam n’yo, napakaliit na halaga lang po ‘yan para sa mga nagsasakripisyo para sa ating mga kababayan. So, uulitin ko, ibigay po dapat ng gobyerno sa mga empleyado lalung-lalo na po ‘yung mga nagsasakripisyo po na malampasan natin itong pandemyang ito,” Go stressed.

In 2019, the lawmaker was instrumental in the enactment of Republic Act No. 11466 or the “Salary Standardization Law 5”. The measure, which Go authored and co-sponsored, gives all civilian government employees, including nurses, increased salaries broken down in tranches.