Philippines: 133% rise in allowances for soldiers, salary increase for civilian government workers

Manila: In addition to getting a salary increase this year, civilian government workers are set to get two more pay raises in the next two years, while soldiers saw their subsistence allowance get a 133% bump from January 2025.

The salary increase for civilian workers started rolling out last year (2024), with additional increases set in 2026 an 2027.

Base pay increases for military and uniformed personnel, meanwhile, kicked off from 2018.

The back-to-back compensation hikes provide a much-needed morale boost to government workers in the Asian country, which has ambitions to join the ranks of upper middle-income nations.

At the base, it also raises the welfare of government servants and their families.

4-year rollout

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already implemented the second tranche of pay raises for civilian state workers in 2025, the second of a four-year rollout.

The hike follows the signing and publication of the national budget circular and local budget circular (No. 597), which outline the rules for computing the salary adjustments.

Executive Order (EO 64), signed on August 2, 2024, details the pay raise for all civilian government personnel, while EO 84, signed on March 14, 2025 raised the daily subsistence allowance of soldiers, retroactively beginning January 1, 2025.

The last salary increase formnational government employees was in 2023, marking the fourth and final installment of the Salary Standardisation Law of 2019 (which was implemented gradually from 2020).

Welfare, quality of life

A fresh round of pay increases for 2026 and 207 for cilivian workers is on the cards, too.

Secretary Pangandaman said the increases fulfill President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s commitment to improve the welfare of all government workers.

“This will provide much-needed financial relief and help our government workers support their families, invest in their futures, and improve their quality of life,” said Pangandaman in a media statement.

Rollout of EO No. 64

This executive order mandates a four-tranche salary increase schedule for civilian personnel in national government agencies:

Who's covered by EO 64?

The increase covers civilian employees — appointed or elected, full-time or part-time — in the following branches of government:

Medical allowance

In addition, following the national government's allocation of ₱9.6 billion in the 2025 budget to support public sector workers' health needs, state workers will also get a ₱7,000 annual medical allowance from 2025.

The allowance aims to help employees access health maintenance organisation (HMO) services or similar healthcare benefits. 

Secretary Pangandaman explained that the health subsidy can be used for various medical services and will serve as a financial buffer in case of health-related emergencies.

Allowance for soldiers raised by 133%

Meanwhile, the approved ₱6.352 trillion ($114.7 billion) national budget for 2025 also includes a 133% increase in the "subsistence allowance" for the Armed Forces of the Phillippines (AFP), to a total of ₱10,500 per month ($190) in 2025, from the previous ₱4,500.

The move is seen as a big step forward in supporting the nation’s men and women in uniform, recognising their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families.

Who's covered by EO 84?

Executive Order (EO) 84 raises the daily subsistence allowance of all officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The increase will be given retroactively beginning January 1, 2025. Pangandaman said: "This is a big help to the families of our soldiers."

She cited that the subsistence allowance of soldiers was last increased in 2015.

100% pay increase for soldiers, cops

From 2018, the base pay of military and uniformed police (MUP)) was hiked nearly 100% for lowest-ranking positions.

A Police Officer I, for example, has seen a 100% increase in monthly "base pay" from the ₱14,834 to ₱29,668 ($535/month or $6,360/year).

Overall adjustments resulted to a 58.7% average base pay hike for all MUP ranks (under the Department of National Defense (DND), and all uniformed personnel under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). 

Total government workforce is estimated at around 1.8 million employees.

The World Bank currently classifies the Philippines as a “lower middle-income country” (income range of $1,146 and $4,515).

The Asian nation, which has recorded a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $4,230 (2023 data), aims to transition to upper middle-income status, which requires a GNI per capita between $4,516 and $14,005.