MANILA, Philippines --- The take-home pay of all Department of Education (DepEd) employees will not be lower than P4,000 a month after all authorized deductions effective 2013.
This was assured after Education Secretary Armin Luistro directed the implementation of Section 37, Authorized Deductions of the General Provisions of Republic Act No. 10352, the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2013. Luistro said that deductions can only be made "provided that such deductions shall in no case reduce the employee's monthly take home pay to an amount lower that P4,000."
It stipulates that "deductions for salaries, emoluments, or other benefits accruing to any government employee chargeable against the appropriations for Personal Services may be allowed for the payment of individual employee's contributions or obligations."
The order of preference include the BIR, PhilHealth, GSIS, and HDMF; mutual benefits associations, thrift banks and non-stock savings and loan associations duly operating under existing laws which are managed by and/or for the benefit of government employees; associations/cooperatives/provident funds organized and managed by government employees for their benefit and welfare; duly licensed insurance companies accredited by the appropriate government agency; and rural banks accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The new threshold of P4,000 shall take effect this FY 2013 and shall apply to all deductions, whether new or queued deductions in the monthly payroll of the concerned DepEd personnel. "However, consistent with Item 3 of DepEd Order No. 8 series of 2012 on the implementation of P5,000 net take home pay for FY 2012, those deductions already effected in the 'Deducted Obligations' of the concerned DepEd personnel's monthly pay slip, as a result of the requirement on the P3,000.00 net take home pay pursuant to FY 2012 GAA shall still be continued until full payment," Luistro added.
Luistro ordered DepEd offices/units involved in payroll servicing at the central, regional, and the division offices, as well as the fiscally autonomous secondary schools to strictly enforce the order.
