THE Cebu City Council approved on third and final reading the ordinance that establishes a retirement gratuity benefit for elected barangay officials, which is now awaiting the mayor’s signature.
The measure was approved during the City Council’s regular session on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021.
As stated in Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia’s ordinance, barangay captains will receive P5,000 for every year of service as barangay captain while elected barangay councilors will get P3,000 for every year of service.
Garcia re-filed his proposed ordinance in 2019 after failing to get the council’s approval during the term of mayor Tomas Osmeña in 2017.
Garcia said it would be beneficial to grant retirement benefits to deserving barangay officials who are excluded from the coverage of the Government Service Insurance System Act of 1997.
The gratuity benefit is the lump sum amount given to qualified elected barangay officials based on the number of years in actual service in the barangay where he or she has been elected.
To avail himself or herself of the benefit, the elected official must be at least 60 years old, must be living at the time of claiming the benefits under the ordinance, must have served at least one term of office (three consecutive years in actual service for the position he or she was elected), and must have not been terminated from office or removed for cause by final judgment.
The funds for the implementation of the ordinance will be allocated yearly and will be included as financial assistance in the City’s General Fund. (WBS)