Administrative Aide V: Salary Grade, Qualifications, and Complete Guide (2026)

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Quick answer

Administrative Aide V (ADA V) is a Philippine government position under Salary Grade (SG) 5. As of the Third Tranche salary schedule under DBM National Budget Circular No. 601, effective January 1, 2026, the Administrative Aide V salary is ₱18,581 a month at Step 1, rising to ₱19,565 at Step 8. Because “Administrative Aide V” is a generic title, its qualification standards — education, experience, training, and eligibility — are not fixed; they depend entirely on the specific parenthetical (functional) title attached to the item, such as Clerk III, Bookkeeper I, Driver II, or Photographer I. Don’t treat “high school graduate” as a blanket rule — always check the QS tied to the exact functional title on the vacancy announcement.

If you’re researching this position because you’re preparing a Personal Data Sheet (PDS), evaluating a job posting, or mapping out a Civil Service career path, this guide walks through everything tied to the ADA V item: its legal basis, the current salary table, who typically qualifies, what the job actually involves day to day, and how appointment works.

Administrative Aide V at a Glance

Item	Details
Position	Administrative Aide V
Salary Grade	SG 5
2026 Step 1 Salary	₱18,581
2026 Step 8 Salary	₱19,565
Plantilla Status	Yes — a regular plantilla item under the Civil Service
Eligibility	Depends on functional title (Sub-Professional, Category II, or Category III)
Education	Varies by functional title — ranges from high school graduate to two years of college
Career Level	First Level (Sub-Professional)
Promotion Path	ADA VI → Administrative Assistant → Administrative Officer

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What Is Administrative Aide V?

Administrative Aide (ADA) is a generic position title used across nearly every Philippine national government agency, local government unit (LGU), state university, and government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC). It isn’t a single job — it’s a salary-grade bracket, SG 1 to SG 6, that covers entry- and lower-level support roles. The “Administrative Aide” label on an appointment paper is almost always paired with a parenthetical (functional) title that tells you what the person actually does, such as Utility Worker I, Driver II, Clerk II, or Bookkeeper I.

Administrative Aide V sits near the top of that bracket, one step below Administrative Aide VI, which is the highest-ranked Aide item before positions cross into the Administrative Assistant series (SG 7 and up).

This structure was formalized under the Rationalization Plan for the civil service and is administered by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) under Section 3, Article IX-B of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which requires that appointments in government be made strictly according to merit and fitness.

For many applicants, ADA V is the first realistic entry point into a permanent government career. It sits above the purely manual/labor tier (ADA I–III) but below positions that typically demand a college degree. That makes it a common target for high school graduates, TESDA or vocational course completers, and second-career applicants who already hold a relevant skill — driving, bookkeeping, photography, records handling — but haven’t finished a four-year degree. Understanding exactly where the position sits, what it pays, and what it demands helps you evaluate a specific vacancy accurately instead of relying on secondhand assumptions from older postings or from private-sector pay expectations, which don’t map cleanly onto the government’s salary grade system.

Where ADA V fits in the plantilla structure

Generic Title	Salary Grade	Typical Nature of Work
Administrative Aide I	SG 1	Utility, messengerial work
Administrative Aide II–III	SG 2–3	Driving, general services
Administrative Aide IV	SG 4	Basic clerical support
Administrative Aide V	SG 5	Clerical, technical, or specialized support
Administrative Aide VI	SG 6	Higher clerical/technical support
Administrative Assistant I–VI	SG 7–11	Higher clerical, records, HR support
Administrative Officer I–V	SG 10–18	Supervisory and management support

Positions climb the ladder based on complexity of duties, level of supervision required, and the education, experience, and training the role demands — not on tenure alone.

Salary Grade comparison: Administrative Aide IV, V, VI

A quick-reference box for the three positions people most often confuse:

Position	Salary Grade
Administrative Aide IV	SG 4
Administrative Aide V	SG 5
Administrative Aide VI	SG 6

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Administrative Aide V Salary 2026: Salary Grade 5 Pay Table

People searching for the Administrative Aide V salary, Administrative Aide V salary grade, SG 5 salary, or Administrative Aide V pay are usually looking for the same number: the current basic monthly rate under Salary Grade 5. Here’s exactly where that figure comes from and what it’s worth in 2026.

Government basic salaries follow the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS) under Republic Act No. 6758, as updated by Executive Order No. 64, s. 2024, which rolled out a four-tranche salary increase from 2024 to 2027. The Third Tranche, covering 2026, is implemented through DBM National Budget Circular No. 601 (dated January 22, 2026), effective retroactively to January 1, 2026.

Under that schedule, Salary Grade 5 — the grade assigned to Administrative Aide V — pays as follows:

Step	Monthly Basic Salary (2026)
Step 1	₱18,581
Step 2	₱18,720
Step 3	₱18,858
Step 4	₱18,998
Step 5	₱19,137
Step 6	₱19,280
Step 7	₱19,423
Step 8	₱19,565

Step 1 is the standard hiring rate. A newly appointed Administrative Aide V, regardless of agency, normally starts here unless prior government service justifies a higher step on appointment.

What rides on top of the basic salary

The table above is basic salary only. In practice, an ADA V employee’s actual take-home and annual compensation also includes:

• PERA (Personnel Economic Relief Allowance) — ₱2,000 a month, on top of basic pay.
• Uniform/Clothing Allowance — up to ₱7,000 a year, per the General Appropriations Act provisions for government personnel.
• Mid-Year Bonus — one month’s basic salary, released around May, under Executive Order No. 201, s. 2016.
• Year-End Bonus and Cash Gift — one month’s basic salary plus ₱5,000, under Republic Act No. 6686 as amended by Republic Act No. 8441.
• GSIS deduction — 9% of basic salary is withheld as the employee’s personal share under RA 8291, with the agency contributing 12% as employer share. There is no salary ceiling on this deduction, unlike SSS.

So a Step 1 Administrative Aide V’s recurring monthly gross (basic salary + PERA) works out to roughly ₱20,581, before GSIS, tax, and any agency-specific deductions.

How step increments work

An employee doesn’t need a promotion to move from Step 1 to a higher step within SG 5. Two mechanisms apply:

1. Length of service — Joint CSC-DBM Circular No. 1, s. 1990 grants one step increment for every three years of continuous, satisfactory service in the same item.
2. Meritorious performance — Joint CSC-DBM Circular No. 1, s. 2012 allows one or two step increments for employees with the highest performance ratings, subject to a small annual quota per agency.

A promotion out of ADA V — for instance, into Administrative Aide VI or a higher-titled position — moves the employee to a new salary grade entirely, typically at the step closest to (but not lower than) their current pay.

2027 preview

Because EO 64’s tranches were published in advance, the Fourth Tranche, effective January 1, 2027, is already public. SG 5’s Step 1 rate is scheduled to rise from ₱18,581 to approximately ₱19,308, continuing the pattern of the earlier tranches. The exact figure will be confirmed once DBM issues the implementing circular in early 2027.

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Qualification Standards for Administrative Aide V

There is no single set of qualification standards for “Administrative Aide V.” It’s a generic title, and CSC rules attach the actual QS to the position’s parenthetical (functional) title, not to the generic title alone. A Clerk III item, a Bookkeeper I item, a Driver II item, and a Photographer I item can all sit at SG 5 and still carry different education, experience, training, and eligibility requirements. Any article — including this one — that states “high school graduate” as a universal rule for ADA V is oversimplifying; treat it as a common pattern among clerical/support functional titles, not a fixed requirement you can assume without checking the specific vacancy.

Every government position is governed by the four pillars of Qualification Standards (QS) under CSC rules (most recently consolidated in CSC Memorandum Circular No. 24, s. 2017 and the Qualification Standards Manual): Education, Experience, Training, and Eligibility. For the ADA IV–VI bracket — which covers clerical, financial, and technical support roles rather than pure manual/labor roles (that’s ADA I–III) — the commonly observed pattern, drawn from actual published vacancies, looks like this:

Requirement	Commonly Observed Range (varies by functional title)
Education	Ranges from high school graduate or completion of a relevant vocational/trade course, up to at least two years of college-level study, depending on the functional title
Experience	None required for many functional titles; some require up to 1 year of relevant experience
Training	None required for many functional titles; some require a small number of relevant training hours
Eligibility	Career Service Sub-Professional (First Level) eligibility for most clerical titles; Category II or Category III eligibility for skills-based titles; a small number of specialized titles require none

Important nuance: the ranges above describe what shows up across published ADA V vacancies — they are not a fixed baseline you can assume applies to any given item. Individual agencies may also “flex” a requirement upward (never downward) through a CSC-approved qualification standards board. A Bookkeeper I item under ADA V, for example, may carry entirely different experience and training conditions than a Photographer I or a Chauffeur I item at the same salary grade — even though all three share SG 5. The only reliable source for a specific item’s QS is the vacancy announcement or the agency’s approved Position Description Form.

Eligibility categories that commonly apply to ADA V

• Career Service Sub-Professional (CSSP) / First Level Eligibility — the standard civil service eligibility for clerical and general support roles, earned through the CSC Sub-Professional exam.
• Category II eligibility (CSC MC No. 11, s. 1996) — for skilled-trade functional titles, granted based on a trade or skills test rather than a written exam.
• Category III eligibility — for positions where no civil service written exam applies, but a specific license or certificate substitutes (for example, a Professional Driver’s License for a Driver/Chauffeur item).
• No eligibility required — a small number of entry-adjacent ADA V functional titles carry no eligibility requirement at all, particularly where the role is highly specialized and skills-based (such as certain photography or reproduction-machine-operator items).

Because the eligibility requirement changes with the functional title, always check the specific job posting or the agency’s approved Position Description Form (PDF) rather than assuming one eligibility fits every ADA V item.

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Administrative Aide V Fast Qualification Checker

CSC issuances tell you the formal QS per functional title, but they don’t answer the question most first-time applicants actually ask: “Given what I already have, how likely am I to qualify for an ADA V item?” Based on the patterns across published ADA V vacancies covered in this guide, here’s a quick self-check — a starting-point read, not an official CSC determination:

If You Are…	Likely Eligible for ADA V?	Why
High school graduate only, no eligibility	Possible	Meets the education floor for many clerical/support functional titles, but you’ll likely need Sub-Professional eligibility (or the applicable Category II/III) before an agency can appoint you as permanent
TESDA / vocational-course graduate	Possible to Likely	Often meets or exceeds the education requirement for skills-based functional titles (Driver, Bookkeeper-adjacent, technical-support items); pairing this with the relevant eligibility or license strengthens your standing significantly
College undergraduate (some units, no degree)	Likely	Clears the education bar for most ADA V functional titles, including those that ask for at least two years of college; still need to confirm the specific eligibility requirement
College graduate	Yes, for education	Exceeds the ADA V education requirement in every functional title we’ve reviewed; the deciding factor becomes eligibility and experience, not education

How to use this table: treat the “Likely Eligible?” column as a starting filter for deciding whether an ADA V vacancy is worth pursuing — not as a guarantee. The functional title on the actual vacancy announcement, plus your eligibility status, still determines the final answer. This checker doesn’t replace the CSC’s published Qualification Standards Manual; it’s a faster first read before you dig into the specific item.

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Common Functional (Parenthetical) Titles Under Administrative Aide V

“Administrative Aide V” rarely stands alone on a plantilla item. Agencies attach a parenthetical title that describes the actual work. Titles that commonly appear at SG 5 across national agencies and LGUs include:

• Bookkeeper I — maintains basic financial and accounting records
• Clerk II — handles filing, records processing, and routine correspondence
• Photographer I — documents agency events, produces ID and archival photos
• Driver/Chauffeur I — operates and maintains an assigned government vehicle
• Storekeeper I — manages supply and inventory records
• Reproduction Machine Operator II — operates printing/duplicating equipment
• Data Entry Machine Operator I — encodes and processes agency data

Each functional title has its own Qualification Standards entry approved by the CSC, layered on top of the SG 5 salary. This is why two people both holding “Administrative Aide V” items can have noticeably different day-to-day duties and slightly different entry requirements.

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Typical Duties and Responsibilities

While specific duties depend on the parenthetical title, most Administrative Aide V positions share a common core of responsibilities within an office or division:

• Performing clerical, recording, or technical support tasks assigned by a supervisor
• Maintaining accurate logs, files, or basic records relevant to the functional title (financial entries for a Bookkeeper, inventory logs for a Storekeeper, image archives for a Photographer, and so on)
• Assisting professional and technical staff so that higher-level personnel can focus on more complex work
• Operating or maintaining office equipment or a government vehicle, where the functional title requires it
• Following standard office procedures, agency policies, and basic reportorial deadlines
• Coordinating with other units for routine administrative transactions

A Position Description Form (PDF) — a required appointment document — specifies the exact percentage breakdown of duties for each item, so the precise task list always traces back to that document rather than a generic description.

A day in the life, by functional title

Because the workload under “Administrative Aide V” varies so much by parenthetical title, it helps to picture a few concrete examples:

• A Bookkeeper I spends the morning posting cash disbursements and receipts into the agency’s books, reconciles petty cash, and prepares simple financial summaries for the accountant to review before the day ends.
• A Clerk II processes incoming and outgoing correspondence, updates a records log, retrieves files on request, and assists with encoding data into an office tracking system.
• A Photographer I documents agency events and activities, processes and archives images, prepares ID photos, and maintains the office’s visual documentation files for reports and compliance requirements.
• A Driver/Chauffeur I operates an assigned government vehicle for official trips, keeps a trip log and fuel record, and performs basic vehicle upkeep and safety checks.

None of these tasks alone defines “Administrative Aide V” — the salary grade is shared, but the actual workday depends entirely on which functional title sits in the parenthesis.

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Where Administrative Aide V Positions Are Usually Found

ADA V items exist across nearly every type of government office, though the mix of functional titles differs by sector:

• National line agencies (departments and their attached bureaus) tend to post Clerk, Records Officer aide, and Data Entry Machine Operator items.
• Local government units (LGUs) — provincial, city, and municipal offices — frequently post Bookkeeper, Storekeeper, and Driver items, since LGU offices handle their own procurement and cash operations at the barangay-adjacent level.
• State universities and colleges (SUCs) often post Reproduction Machine Operator and Clerk items tied to registrar’s offices, libraries, and administrative divisions.
• GOCCs not covered by the separate RA 10149 compensation regime follow the same civilian salary schedule and post comparable clerical and technical-support ADA V items.

One caveat worth flagging: LGUs pay from local funds, and a lower-income-class municipality may lawfully adopt the national salary schedule at less than 100%. That means an ADA V posting in a 4th- or 5th-class municipality can pay somewhat below the ₱18,581 Step 1 figure quoted above, even though the position and Salary Grade are identical on paper. Always confirm the actual approved rate with the specific LGU’s HR or budget office before assuming the national schedule applies at full value.

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How to Qualify for Administrative Aide V

Step 1: Identify the exact qualification standards for your target functional title

Don’t assume a generic education requirement. Pull up the specific vacancy announcement or the agency’s approved Position Description Form for the functional title you’re targeting (Clerk III, Bookkeeper I, Driver II, Photographer I, etc.) and confirm the education, experience, and training it actually requires — these differ by functional title even within the same ADA V salary grade.

Step 2: Secure the applicable eligibility

Most ADA V clerical and general-support items require Career Service Sub-Professional eligibility, earned by passing the CSC Sub-Professional Examination. Skills-based functional titles may instead require a trade test (Category II) or a specific license, such as a Professional Driver’s License (Category III). Some highly specialized, skills-based functional titles carry no eligibility requirement at all — verify this against the specific vacancy.

Step 3: Prepare your application documents

CSC and agency HR offices typically require:

• CS Form No. 212 (Personal Data Sheet, PDS), notarized
• Certificate of Eligibility or a valid professional license, as applicable
• NBI Clearance
• Medical Certificate (CS Form No. 211)
• Transcript of Records or diploma, and training certificates, where relevant

Step 4: Apply through the agency’s posted vacancy

Agencies publish ADA V vacancies through the CSC job portal, the agency’s own website or Facebook page, and, for positions requiring publication, the CSC Bulletin of Vacant Positions. Applications go directly to the hiring agency’s HR office, not to the CSC itself, unless the CSC is the hiring agency.

Step 5: Appointment and evaluation

Once selected, the agency’s Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board (HRMPSB) evaluates candidates against the item’s approved QS before endorsing an appointment. The CSC then attests the appointment for regularity.

Appointment status options

• Permanent — issued when the appointee meets all QS elements, including eligibility.
• Temporary — issued when a qualified applicant lacks eligibility but no eligible candidate is available; valid for up to one year and renewable subject to conditions.
• Contractual or coterminous — tied to a specific project or the tenure of an appointing official, common for project-based ADA items.

Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (COS) workers are not considered government employees and do not hold plantilla “Administrative Aide” items, even if their assigned tasks look similar — they’re governed by separate COA-DBM joint circulars rather than Civil Service appointment rules.

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Administrative Aide V vs. Nearby Positions

Position	Salary Grade	2026 Step 1 Rate	Education Range (varies by functional title)
Administrative Aide I	SG 1	₱14,634	Able to read and write / elementary graduate
Administrative Aide IV	SG 4	₱17,506	High school graduate up to relevant vocational training, depending on title
Administrative Aide V	SG 5	₱18,581	High school graduate up to two years of college, depending on functional title
Administrative Aide VI	SG 6	₱19,716	Completion of two years of college, or high school graduate with relevant vocational course, depending on title
Administrative Assistant I	SG 7	₱20,914	At least two years of college-level study
Administrative Officer II	SG 11	₱31,705	Bachelor’s degree

The jump from Administrative Aide VI (SG 6) into the Administrative Assistant series (SG 7 and up) is the first point where sub-professional support roles start transitioning toward positions that more consistently expect some college-level education, and eventually a full bachelor’s degree once you reach the Administrative Officer series.

Administrative Aide V Career Roadmap

Strip away the salary tables and QS jargon, and the typical path out of ADA V looks like this:

Administrative Aide V (SG 5)
        ↓  tenure + training/continuing education
Administrative Aide VI (SG 6)
        ↓  promotion into higher clerical/records track
Administrative Assistant I (SG 7)
        ↓  college units → eventual bachelor's degree
Administrative Officer I (SG 10)
        ↓  CS Professional eligibility + supervisory experience
Higher Administrative Officer grades (SG 11–18)

Two levers move you down this roadmap faster than tenure alone:

• Education leverage — finishing a bachelor’s degree is the single biggest unlock, since it’s what opens the Administrative Officer series and the CS Professional exam.
• Eligibility leverage — moving from Sub-Professional (First Level) to Career Service Professional (Second Level) eligibility widens which items you can be appointed to, independent of your current salary grade.

This roadmap is a general pattern based on how the Aide, Assistant, and Officer series are structured under the plantilla system — actual promotion still runs through each agency’s Merit Promotion and Selection Board, and not every ADA V item leads to every step above; a Driver or Photographer functional title, for instance, may have a narrower promotion track than a Clerk or Bookkeeper item.

Completing a relevant college degree and passing the Career Service Professional Examination significantly widens eligibility for promotion beyond the Aide and Assistant brackets.

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Common Mistakes Applicants Make

A few recurring errors slow down or disqualify otherwise capable ADA V applicants:

• Assuming one eligibility fits every ADA V item. Applicants often study for the Sub-Professional exam without checking whether their target functional title actually requires a Category II or Category III eligibility instead — wasted effort if the vacancy calls for a trade test or a professional license rather than the written exam.
• Submitting an unnotarized PDS. CS Form No. 212 must be notarized before submission; agencies routinely return incomplete applications over this alone.
• Overlooking the parenthetical title when comparing salary offers. Two ADA V postings can look identical on the salary grade line but carry very different duties, experience requirements, and career trajectories once you read the functional title.
• Assuming the national salary table applies at full value in every LGU. As noted above, lower-income-class municipalities may implement the schedule below 100%, so the posted or actual rate can differ from the DBM table.
• Treating a Job Order or Contract of Service posting as a plantilla ADA V item. JO/COS engagements may describe similar tasks but don’t carry Civil Service appointment status, security of tenure, or GSIS coverage the way a plantilla ADA V position does.

Reading the actual vacancy announcement and the agency’s approved Qualification Standards — rather than relying on a general description of “Administrative Aide V” — resolves nearly all of these issues before you invest time in an application.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Related Topics

To learn more about navigating your career in the Philippine government, explore our deep-dive guides:

• Salary Grade 1 in the Philippines (2026): Complete Guide to Pay, Steps, and Eligibility
• Salary Grade 2 in the Philippines (2026): Complete Guide to Pay, Steps, and Eligibility
• Salary Grade 3 in the Philippines (2026): Complete Guide to Pay, Steps, and Eligibility
• Salary Grade 6 Philippines: Salary, Steps, Positions, and Career Guide
• Salary Grade 7 Philippines: Salary, Benefits & Positions
• Salary Grade 8 Philippines: Salary, Steps, Positions, Benefits, and Career Guide
• Job Order vs. COS vs. Permanent: What Is a Plantilla Position?
• CSC Eligibility Requirements: Complete Guide for Government Job Applicants
• PERA, RATA, and Hazard Pay Guide
• Government Jobs in the Philippines 2026: Complete Job Search Guide
• How to Apply for Government Jobs in the Philippines: Step-by-Step Guide
• Government Salary Grade 2026: Complete Guide to the Philippine Salary Schedule
• Administrative Aide Salary Grade, Duties, Qualifications, and Career Guide
• Administrative Aide I Salary Grade and Qualifications (2026)
• Administrative Aide II Salary Grade, Qualifications, and Job Description (2026)
• Administrative Aide III Salary Grade, Qualifications, and Job Description (2026)

References

1. Department of Budget and Management (DBM). National Budget Circular No. 601 – Implementation of the Third Tranche Compensation Adjustment for Civilian Government Personnel pursuant to Executive Order No. 64, s. 2024.
2. Civil Service Commission (CSC). Position Qualification Standards and Civil Service eligibility policies.
3. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Executive Orders, laws, and official government issuances relating to the Salary Standardization Law