‘Praise’ the Lord: Capitol giving workers more cash

CEBU, Philippines - While all statutory bonuses have been given already, the Cebu provincial government is spending more this month for another wave of incentives for Capitol employees.  The executive department earlier submitted to the Provincial Board for approval a P20-million supplemental budget covering the incentives for over 1, 400 government workers.

Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas said regular and casual employees four months into the job would receive across-the-board P15,000 should the legislative body approve the budget.

He said Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III already requested the PB for a special session to act on the supplemental budget.   He said that giving of the incentive hinged on the Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) adopted by the Capitol and approved by the Civil Service Commission.

According to the CSC Resolution No. 010112, the awards system was designed “to encourage creativity, innovativeness, efficiency, integrity and productivity in the public service” by rewarding government employees and officials for their endeavor and contribution to efficiency in government operations.

The allocation for PRAISE was sourced from the Human Resources Development Fund and was incorporated in the agency’s annual financial plan.

Rodas said the Capitol’s awards and incentives committee headed by Davide concurred to grant the incentives after Cebu garnered the distinction as third most competitive province conferred by the National Competitiveness Council.  The competitiveness index measures the local government unit’s economic dynamism, government efficiency, and infrastructure.

The Commission on Audit also named the province as the richest in the country, with equity of P28.181 billion, which is the difference of the province’s asset of P29.69 billion and liabilities at P1.5 billion.

Rodas said the last time the Capitol granted incentives through PRAISE was in 2013 but only to employees of top performing departments with P3,000 each.

If approved by the PB, the incentives that the Capitol workers would get this month is on top of other bonuses regularly granted, which are the Productivity Enhancement Incentive released last July; yearend bonuses, which are equivalent to one month of the employees’ basic salary; and P5,000 cash gifts distributed last May and November.

Another bonus received by Capitol employees was the P15,000 across-the-board cash incentive as part of the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) with the Provincial Employees Association of Cebu, Inc. — (FREEMAN)