How local officials are paid
Every government salary in the Philippines sits on a ladder of salary grades, from 1 at the bottom to 33 at the top, each with its own peso amount on the national salary schedule. The Code puts each elected local office on a grade: a governor or a city mayor at salary grade 30 at least, a municipal mayor at 27 at least.
The peso figure itself is not in the Code. Each province, city and municipality fixes its officials’ pay by ordinance, within the limits of the national Salary Standardization Law and the cap on spending for personnel (IRR art. 187). Barangay officials are different: they receive honoraria, not salaries, at rates the Code sets directly (Sec. 424).
Elected officials
The most each elected post may be paid in 2026: its salary grade on the national schedule, and its representation and transportation allowance (RATA) at the rate for a first class unit. The yearly figure adds the two bonuses, PERA and the other yearly grants below, each at its ceiling.
| Position | Salary grade | Salary a month | RATA a month | A year, at most |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GovernorProvince · Code s. 517 | At least SG 30 | ₱210,718 | ₱25,000 | ₱3,291,052 |
| Vice-GovernorProvince · Code s. 519 | SG 28 | ₱167,129 | ₱23,000 | ₱2,656,806 |
| Sangguniang Panlalawigan memberProvince · Code s. 522 | At least SG 27 | ₱148,940 | ₱19,000 | ₱2,354,160 |
| City MayorCity · Code s. 505 | At least SG 30 | ₱210,718 | ₱23,000 | ₱3,267,052 |
| City Vice-MayorCity · SG 28 in a highly urbanised city · Code s. 507 | SG 26 | ₱131,807 | ₱20,000 | ₱2,126,298 |
| Sangguniang Panlungsod memberCity · SG 27 in a highly urbanised city · Code s. 510 | SG 25 | ₱116,643 | ₱17,000 | ₱1,878,002 |
| Municipal MayorMunicipality · Code s. 485 | At least SG 27 | ₱148,940 | ₱18,000 | ₱2,342,160 |
| Municipal Vice-MayorMunicipality · Code s. 487 | SG 25 | ₱116,643 | ₱17,100 | ₱1,879,202 |
| Sangguniang Bayan memberMunicipality · Code s. 490 | At least SG 24 | ₱102,603 | ₱15,300 | ₱1,661,042 |
Salary is step 1 of the 2026 schedule (Executive Order 64, s. 2024, third tranche); a unit may move to it only after a year on the 2025 rates, so many still pay less. RATA is the representation and the transportation allowance together, at the first class rate (DBM LBC 157); a city counts as a component city. A year, at most, is 14 months’ salary, 12 of RATA and PERA, the ₱5,000 cash gift, a ₱5,000 PEI and the ₱7,000 medical allowance; it leaves out the clothing allowance and any Performance-Based Bonus.
Allowances and bonuses
On top of the salary, the national rules let a local government pay its officials and employees the allowances and bonuses below. Each is a ceiling: the sanggunian decides whether to pay it, from the unit’s own funds and within its payroll cap, and may pay less if it pays everyone the same rate.
| Benefit | Amount | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) | ₱2,000 a month | DBM Budget Circular 2009-3 |
| Representation and transportation allowance (RATA) | Up to the rate for the post and the unit’s class, each allowance; representation only if given a government vehicle | DBM Local Budget Circular 157 (2024) |
| Mid-year bonus | One month’s basic pay, from 15 May | DBM Budget Circular 2017-2 |
| Year-end bonus | One month’s basic pay, with the November payroll | DBM Budget Circulars 2016-4 and 2024-3 |
| Cash gift | ₱5,000, with the year-end bonus | DBM Budget Circular 2016-4 |
| Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) | Up to ₱5,000 (FY 2025) | DBM Circular Letter 2025-13; Budget Circular 2017-4 |
| Medical allowance | Up to ₱7,000 a year | EO 64 s. 2024; DBM Budget Circular 2024-6 |
| Uniform or clothing allowance | Up to ₱7,000 a year in FY 2024; later years follow each year’s budget act | DBM Budget Circular 2024-1 |
| Performance-Based Bonus | Up to 65% of a month’s pay, only if the unit enrols and qualifies (a Seal of Good Local Governance is required) | DILG-DBM JMC 2025-001 |
Why one town pays less than another
The national schedule is the most a local government may pay, not what it must. By default it pays a share of the schedule set by its income class, lower for a smaller unit and lower again for a municipality. It may instead adopt the full schedule, as long as it pays every post on it and stays within its payroll cap, or a lower uniform rate if it cannot afford its own.
| Income class | Province or city | Municipality |
|---|---|---|
| 1st class | 100% | 90% |
| 2nd class | 95% | 85% |
| 3rd class | 90% | 80% |
| 4th class | 85% | 75% |
| 5th class | 80% | 70% |
Share of the national salary schedule, from EO 64 s. 2024 sec. 4 and DBM Local Budget Circulars 160, 165 and 172. A special city pays the full schedule. RATA steps down by class the same way (LBC 157). Each unit’s class is on its finances.
Barangay officials and workers
What a barangay must pay the people who run it, each month. The barangay pays from its own funds; where it cannot afford the punong barangay’s honorarium, the Bangsamoro Government makes up the difference through the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (Sec. 424; IRR art. 45).
| Position | Honorarium |
|---|---|
| Punong Barangay | At least ₱5,000 a month, and up to ₱38,764 (the first step of SG 14 in 2026) |
| Sangguniang Barangay members, the secretary, the treasurer and the SK chairperson | At least ₱3,000 a month, and up to ₱26,917 (the first step of SG 10 in 2026) |
| Barangay tanods and purok leaders | At least ₱1,000 a month |
| Child development center teachers, barangay health workers, nutrition scholars and farm technicians | At least ₱1,000 a month |
| Lupon tagapamayapa members | An honorarium per hearing, no more than ₱2,000 a month in all |
| All of the above | A year-end bonus of at least ₱1,000. The barangay council may instead grant one month’s honorarium and the ₱5,000 cash gift |
What limits the payroll
A local government cannot simply raise everyone’s pay. What it spends on personnel, salaries and allowances together, may not be more than 45% of its regular income from the year before if it is a first to third class province, city or municipality, or 55% if it is fourth class or lower (Sec. 349). A barangay’s cap is 55% of the income it actually collected from local sources the year before (Sec. 355). No official may be paid twice for the same work unless a law allows it (Sec. 107).
What each local government actually spent is on its finances.
Benefits
Barangay officials
On top of the honorarium (Sec. 424):
- Insurance coverage, with premiums of no more than 1% of the barangay’s appropriations.
- Free medical care under the Universal Health Care Act.
- No tuition for their dependent children at state colleges and universities.
- Civil service eligibility based on their years of barangay service.
- Preference in government appointments after their term.
Sangguniang Kabataan officials
SK officials in good standing (Sec. 465):
- No tuition or matriculation fees at state colleges and universities.
- Exemption from the NSTP civic welfare training service.
- Excused from class while attending SK meetings and barangay council sessions.
- PhilHealth coverage paid by the national government.
- A monthly honorarium from SK funds, no more than the chairperson’s, with honoraria and other personal services capped at 25% of the SK fund.
Read from the Code and its implementing rules, section by section. Where this page and the Act differ, the Act is right. Read Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 49 — Bangsamoro Local Governance Code and its implementing rules.