THE Cebu City Government will spend over P164 million for the Charter Day celebrations spanning from Feb. 14 to 28, 2025, and for employee incentives.
Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, in a press conference on Monday, Feb. 11, said that there will be fewer activities this year compared to last year. That’s why the City will only be spending P14,669,521 for the celebrations, he said.
“For the entire month, dili lang usa ka gabii (not just a single night),” Garcia said, referring to the activities.
In a text message, Councilor Noel Wenceslao, who heads the finance committee, said he could not recall how much the City spent on Charter Day celebrations in 2024.
The bulk of this year’s budget will go to employee incentives as Charter Day bonuses.
Wenceslao told SunStar Cebu on Tuesday that the total budget allocated for bonuses is P150 million; this is P30 million more compared to the P120 million allocated in 2024.
The allocation for employee incentives is covered by the P635 million Supplement Budget 1, which was submitted to the council for approval on Friday, Feb. 7.
If approved, regular and casual employees will receive P25,000 each, while P5,000 will be given to job order (JO) personnel. In 2024, regular and casual employees also received P25,000 each, while a P5,000 gratuity pay was given to the JOs. In 2023, each employee only received P15,000.
For this year’s celebrations, the bulk of the P14 million budget will be for the Family Day on Feb. 23. The amount already covers the budget for packed meals, production costs and mugs, or around P3.1 million.
The second biggest budget allocation is for the testimonial dinner on Feb. 22, which costs P2,872,000.
Garcia said the testimonial dinner will honor those who have contributed to the development and progress of the city.
The third biggest allocation, at P2,490,000, is for the taxpayer’s night on Feb. 28 to honor the city’s biggest taxpayers. The amount covers the venue and food, lights and sounds, plaques, invitation cards, photo and video coverage, glam booth, coffee book and tokens.
The City will also hold the first “HuniGugma sa Kabatan-onan” on Feb. 26. The event has a budget allocation of P1,364,000 to cover the songwriting competition and song interpretation, among others.
Winners of both competitions will take home P30,000; P20,000 for second place; and P10,000 for third place.
The Cebu City Charter Day will be held on Feb. 24 to commemorate its foundation anniversary. The day is a special non-working holiday in
Cebu City.
It was on Feb. 24, 1937, when the City of Cebu was born by virtue of Commonwealth Act 58, authored by Vicente Rama, the grandfather of dismissed mayor Michael Rama. The then municipality, which was under the Cebu Provincial Government, became an independent chartered city known as “Cebu City.” / JPS