Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said it is up Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey if they will push through with the ₱ 10,000 additional bonus for 3,200 capitol employees.
Diaz said the two top provincial government officials have already discussed the matter. The 3,200 employees will only get an additional bonus of only ₱ 1,700 “because the Capitol cannot go beyond the Personal Services (PS) cap allowed by the Department of the Budget and Management.”
Diaz earlier expressed concern that the provincial government may exceed the PS cap set by the DBM by ₱ 27 million if they will grant ₱ 10,000 each to Capitol employees. He said that the additional bonus is counted as part of PS budget. Being under the present budget, the allowable amount to be released would only be ₱ 5 million to avoid exceeding the cap set by the budget department.
If divided among 3,200 employees, each worker will get only ₱ 1,700.
Diaz also said that the governor has already filed a petition before the Office of the President for an exemption, a similar concern he had raised during the meeting of Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines Friday last week.
He said the capitol employees recently received additional bonuses of ₱ 40,000 on top of their 13th and 14th month pays, as well as ₱ 5,000 cash gift.
The additional bonus is part of the Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.
With this, the President said the administration recognizes the value and importance of government employees for their participation and contribution in the current efforts towards streamlining government procedures and in the delivery of public services.
Those entitled to receive are employees who are occupying regular, contractual, or casual positions.
Meanwhile Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced that City Hall employees will receive the ₱ 10,000 additional bonus.
(Dolly Yasa via The Daily Guardian (TDG), photo courtesy of TDG)
