JUST recently the city government of Cebu gave a cash incentive to all of its officials and employees in the said local government unit relying on the basis of achieving a rank of third most competitive highly urbanized city in the Philippines in the 3rd Regional Competitiveness Summit last July 16, 2015. The amount representing the said cash incentive (P151.4 million) was included in the Supplemental Budget No. 2 approved by the city council of Cebu. It was further explained by one of the local legislators of the city council of Cebu that since their city has enough savings the said cash incentive could readily be accommodated, while Cebu Mayor Michael Rama approved the December 1 recommendation of their Program on Awards and Incentives of Service Excellence (PRAISE) committee which said in its resolution that, “By virtue of the said awards, it is deemed rightful to grant the employees a cash incentive for all the hard work and effort that led the City of Cebu to receive the awards”.
The act of Cebu City in giving a cash incentive to its local government workers is an independent and unilateral act coming from a local government unit in the country. It was not based on some other recent order, directive, circular, or notice from a higher office such as that from the Department of Budget and Management or the Office of the President for that matter, before they decided to grant the said cash incentive.
One may ask, is Cebu City authorized to do that, without the say so of a higher agency or office of the national government?
The answer is yes!
What Cebu City has done is simply exercise its prerogative and discretion as a local government unit operating under and in accordance with the mandate of Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991. The Code is the bible of every local government unit in the country and lays down the powers, duties and functions of an LGU in relation to local governance vis-à-vis the national government.
Now the local government code has been implemented since 1991 and its very purpose is to decentralize power originating from the national government. This is clearly provided for in Administrative Order No. 270 series of 1992, prescribing the implementing rules and regulations of the local government code of 1991, particularly Article 465 dealing with the installation and purpose of a Monitoring System, which states, “There shall be established a monitoring system for the implementation of the code to hasten the decentralization process, support the oversight committee in the supervision of the transfer of powers and functions from the national government agencies to local government units and provide valuable information to promote local autonomy”.
Quite clearly then the dictates of the local government code as well as its implementing rule and regulations can only be fully realized when the term local autonomy is applied comprehensively in a particular local government unit in the manner laid down by that particular law.
What Cebu City has done is just to exercise its fiscal autonomy in accordance to its authority granted by the said code.
The City of Baguio has also approved an ordinance through the Baguio City Council, to grant a cash incentive to its officials employees for this year as a reward for a job well done and reflected in the following national and regional awards for CY 2015, to wit: Ranked no. 13 overall out of 144 cities/Awarded by the National Competitiveness Council, Ranked no. 14 overall out of 34 highly urbanized cities/Awarded by the National Competitiveness, 2015 National Kabalikat Awardee/ Awarded by the TESDA, 2015 Regional Kabalikat Awardee/ Awarded by the TESDA, 2015 National Finalist Presidential Award for Child Friendly Cities and Municipalities/ Awarded by the Council for the Protection of Children, 2015 Regional Presidential Award for Child Friendly Cities and Municipalities/ Awarded by the Council for the Protection of Children, 2015 First Place National Level Pagkilala sa Natatanging Kontribusyon sa Bayan (PANATA) Award/ Awarded by the DSWD, 2015 Regional Nutrition Green Banner Awardee/Awarded by the DOH and Good Financial Housekeeping for CY 2015/ Awarded by the DILG.
For the City of Baguio the only issue to be resolved is whether the amount corresponding to the said cash incentive is available in the coffers of the city.