• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Qualified government employees will receive P5,000 each in Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) for 2025, per the Department of Budget and Management circular released Dec. 18.
“(The) uniform rate of P5,000 for each qualified government employee shall be payable not earlier than Dec. 15, for the purpose of improving the government employees’ productivity, subject to the conditions, policies, and guidelines prescribed under Budget Circular 2017-4.
Per the circular, qualified employees are those still in the service, and have rendered four months of satisfactory service, as of Nov. 30, including leaves of absence with pay.
“Those who have rendered less than the total or aggregate of four months of service but still in the service, as of Nov. 30, shall be entitled to pro-rated PEI,” the DBM said.
Per Circular Letter No. 2025-13, dated Dec. 17 and made public yesterday, “the grant of the PEI is aligned with one of the governing principles of Congress Joint Resolution (JR) 4-2009 (or the Salary Standardization Law) that a performance-based incentive scheme…shall be established to reward exemplary civil servants and well-performing public institutions”.
The PEI is one of the incentives under the Total Compensation Framework, which was established under Congress JR No. 4-2009, that may be granted to government employees as a reward for exceeding agency and financial performance targets, and to motivate employee efforts toward higher productivity, the DBM explained.
In June 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., via Executive Order 61, suspended the grant of performance-based bonus (PBB) and the PEI, saying these incentives are “duplicative and redundant with the internal and external performance audit and evaluation systems of the government, and lacked a review mechanism…”
Per the EO, a Technical Working Group was formed to study and review the Results-Based Performance Management System (RBPMS) and Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) System.
On Oct. 16, 2025, the EO61 TWG provided the DILG the final validated list of local government units eligible to grant the FY 2023 PBB to their respective officials and employees.
Bacolod City was among the LGUs that have fully complied with all requirements for the FY 2023 PBB, so its employees and officials “are entitled to receive the bonus at a maximum rate equivalent to 65 percent of their monthly basic salary (MBS), as of Dec. 31, 2023”, DILG undersecretary for Local Government Marlo Iringan had said in a memorandum.
On Oct. 29, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod approved an appropriation ordinance allocating P25-million for the PBB of city employees and officials. | CGC
