APART from the Provincial Government turning 450 years old, some of its employees might have another reason to celebrate.
An anniversary bonus worth P5.28 million was one of the items covered by the first supplemental budget amounting to P1.38 billion.
It was approved by the Cebu Provincial Board on Monday, August 5, 2019.
“Ning-ingon ko (I've said before that) I will no longer give big, fat bonuses. It did not mean nga di ko mohatag og (that I will not be giving out any) bonus. But you see, it's not mine to give. Depende man na, budget man na sa katawhan, gikan man na sa katawhan (It depends on the budget, which came from the people),” said Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Wednesday, August 7.
But once the funds for the anniversary incentive is downloaded, Garcia said she will forgo any special announcements and speeches on the matter as she wants the bonus to be distributed directly to the recipients.
As of this writing, the Provincial Human Resource Management Office has yet to finalize the number of recipients.
What was certain, though, was that the employee must have rendered at least one year of service to the Provincial Government by August 6, 2019 to qualify for the anniversary bonus.
Provincial Budget Officer Emme Gingoyon said qualified recipients will receive an anniversary incentive of “not more than P3,000” subject to the governor's execution of a memorandum on the matter.
Dated March 3, 1997, Local Budget Circular 65 of the Department of Budget and Management provides the guidelines on the granting of anniversary bonus in the local government.
Item 4.3 under the circular's Rules and Regulations states that “The anniversary bonus herein authorized shall be granted only during milestone years which refers to the 15th anniversary and to every fifth year thereafter of the founding of the local government unit.”
Item 4.3.1 further provides that “officials and employees may be granted anniversary bonus only if the LGU where they are employed has been in existence for at least 15 years and has not yet granted any Anniversary Bonus prior to the effectivity of Executive Order 316 and have rendered at least one year service in the same LGU as of the date of the milestone year.”
In 2018, around 1,500 regular and casual employees received a P15,000 anniversary incentive from the administration of former governor and now Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III during the Capitol's 449th founding anniversary celebration.
Davide, at that time, cited several accolades the Province received as basis for giving the anniversary incentive.
This included the Capitol’s third Seal of Good Local Governance awarded in 2017 by the Department of the Interior and Local Government; the 2017 Gawad Kalasag Award from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council; and the recent Bronze Award from the Civil Service Commission. (RTF)