Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR said overnight that it expects the salaries of employees to soon be aligned with other government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) after the Governance Commission committed to issue an Authority to Implement the agency’s new Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS).
According to comments by PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco, the commitment was agreed during a meeting between the Governance Commission and PAGCOR’s Compliance Department and Human Resources and Development Group held late last year.
The Authority to Implement is expected to be issued by 31 January.
The gaming regulator said that the Governance Commission, which is mandated to regulate and supervise GOCCs, first issued a circular in 2015 ordering the reorganization, rationalization and personnel planning as a requisite for the approval of any reorganization and increase in employees’ pay. President Benigno Aquino III later issued an Executive Order adopting the CPCS for all GOCCs, including PAGCOR, however this was later suspended under President Rodrigo Duterte with GOCC’s instead given the option to adopt a modified salary structure or retain its current compensation framework. PAGCOR opted for the latter, it said.
After Duterte reinstated the CPCS in 2021, PAGCOR completed its submission, however it was then discovered that the gaming regulator had in the meantime created a new E-Sabong Licensing Department, among others, without authorization as required, thus delaying the CPCS.
Tengco said that after he took the helm of PAGCOR in August 2022, he immediately inquired about the status of the agency’s CPCS and staff to meet with the GCG and work for the approval of the CPCS.
PAGCOR was informed by the Commission in December of its plans to issue an Authority to Implement.