CLARK FREEPORT – The Clark Development Corporation (CDC) filed an appeal to the Governance Commission for Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) against the implementation of the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS), citing that the imposition of the new pay scale system is unjust and has brought demoralization to CDC employees.
In a resolution by referendum issued by the CDC Board of Directors led by Atty. Edgardo Pamintuan, the board approved the authority of the management to defer the implementation of the CPCS and maintain status quo on the basic monthly salary, benefits and allowances of the employees. Under the same resolution, the board also authorized the CDC management to submit a motion for reconsideration to GCG regarding the CPCS.
Through the initiative of the CDC management headed by CDC President and CEO Manuel R. Gaerlan, and approval of the CDC Board of Directors, the state-owned firm sent its petition to GCG last June 30, 2022, asking for reconsideration of the said pay scale system. The 35-page appeal was received by GCG last July 4, 2022.
Under the motion for reconsideration submitted by CDC, the state-run corporation said that the adoption of the CPCS – Authority to Implement (ATI) issued by GCG will “result in a wide disparity in wages among employees, and diminution of take-home pay.”
CDC also said that 29 plantilla positions were excluded from the list under the CPCS-ATI. These positions were already occupied and should have been on the CPCS list.
CDC further mentioned that implementing the CPCS would mean a 30 -percent decrease in the current monthly salary of rank-and-file employees.
Allowances, Benefits, and Incentives (ABIs) will similarly be discontinued under the CPCS. With the cessation of the ABIs, rank and file employees may lose as much as P4,000 on their monthly take-home pay, P7,000 decrease for supervisors; P10,000 reductions for Assistant Managers, and P4,879.44 diminution for Managers.
According to CDC, the dissolution of the ABIs will have a direct impact on the employees and their families, who are already grappling with the inflation on basic commodities and increase in oil prices.
“The discontinuance of the ABIs not included in the CPCS may also be construed as a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) executed by and between the CDC and its supervisory and rank and file employees, respectively. These CBAs, incorporating the ABIs, were executed by CDC and the employees’ unions even prior to the enactment of RA 10149 (“GOCC Governance Act of 2011”),” CDC added.
CDC said that its contributions to Region III and to the country should have been taken into account in the formulation of CPCS.
“Unlike other GOCCs, CDC fully relies on its own income for its operations and is not dependent on the General Appropriations Act. It remits its dividends regularly to the National Government, the highest of which was P1.133 billion in 2019,” the agency said.
During the pandemic, CDC employees continuously provided services to its 1,200 locators in Clark Freeport Zone with more than 120,000 workers and was able to generate an US$5.40 billion exports value which represents 10% of exports in Region III.
The CDC management led by Gaerlan urged the GCG to immediately defer the implementation of the CPCS – ATI and plead for the review and correction of the CPCS issued to CDC. Gaerlan also called for the immediate issuance of an amended ATI of CDC’s CPCS.
