Retirement plan pushed for barangay officials

Former Association of Barangay Councils president Jose Navarro is asking the city council to pass an ordinance establishing and adopting a retirement gratuity plan for barangay officials.

Navarro, who is the incumbent chief of barangay Punta Princesa, has written councilor Jocelyn Pesquera a letter, requesting her or any members of the city council to sponsor a proposed ordinance to this effect patterned after the proposed resolution adopted by their barangay council.

In a resolution approved by the barangay council en masse during its regular session on September 10, it was decided that they are going to establish and adopt a retirement gratuity plan for their village officials.

Covered also in the said resolution is the P200,000 appropriation as initial amount to be used in defraying any disbursement in relation to this proposal.

The amount is to be charged to the allocation for personnel services as provided under section 331 of Republic Act 7160, otherwise known as the 1991 Local Government Code.

The barangay resolution cited Section 393 of the same law which stipulates that barangay officials are not compensated in the form of salary.

Yet the same law provides that for purposes of determining the monetary value of the leave credits/benefits of the barangay officials as well as the accreditation of services in the barangay as government service, the fixed honorarium they receive in accordance with the law and Local Budget Circular No. 63, dated October 22, 1996, shall be treated as fixed salary.

Also, Sections 2.1 and 2.2 of Joint Circular No. 1, series of 2004 of the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Budget and Management, explains that barangay officials are entitled to leave credits/benefits equivalent to 30 days for every year of service in the barangay as provided under section 1, Rule XVI of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of Executive Order No. 292.

But while the barangay officials are now entitled to leave credits/benefits and the monetization thereof, they are not given any of form of gratuity when they retire from office due to the expiration of their terms or because of other causes.

Nevertheless, the 1991 Local Government Code authorizes the barangay to appropriate packages for benefits of barangay officials as long as there is available funds that can be used for this purpose. - Cristina C. Birondo