GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/19 December) — The city government is set to release cash gifts of up to P35,000 each to its regular employees as performance enhancement incentive (PEI) to them.
Mayor Ronnel Rivera said Thursday he endorsed the granting of the cash incentive to all regular workers of the local government based on a recommendation issued earlier this month by the local finance board.
The incentive mainly rewards city employees to motivate them towards higher productivity, he said.
In its resolution, the finance board recommended the release of the P35,000 PEI to all regular city government employees, subject to the guidelines set by Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Circular No. 2013-3.
The board is composed of the city treasurer, city budget officer, city accountant, city planning and development officer, city administrator, the chair of the city council’s finance committee and representatives from the city mayor’s office and a non-government organization.
The circular, which was issued by DBM last November 21, specifically set the “guidelines on the advance payment of the PEI to government employees for fiscal year 2013.”
It mainly authorized the release of a PEI of not more than P5,000 for employees working in the executive branch of the national government, government-owned and controlled corporations, judiciary and the legislative branches.
But it gave local government units (LGU), including barangay governments, the prerogative to determine the rates or amounts to be given to their respective employees, “depending on the LGU financial capability.”
Citing the provisions of the DBM circular, the board cited in its resolution that the PEI will be granted to employees who are in service as of October 31, 2013.
It said “employees who have rendered at least a total or an aggregate of nine months of satisfactory service for the year, including leaves of absence with pay,” are entitled to the full amount of the PEl.
“Those who have rendered less than the total or aggregate of nine months of service shall be entitled to a pro-rated PEl,” the board noted.
The city government’s human resources management and development office listed the city’s current regular workers at 1,430.
The local government had hired around 1,500 more job order employees to augment the manpower in its various departments and offices. (MindaNews)
