• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Around 2,000 eligible employees of the Bacolod city government have started receiving their year-end bonus and cash gift, even as Mayor Greg Gasataya assured that funds for the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) incentive have also been earmarked.
The year-end bonus is equivalent to an employee’s one-month basic pay, while the cash gift is P5,000 each qualified worker, under Budget Circular 2024-3 of the Department of Budget and Management.
To qualify for the full year-end bonus and cash gift, a government employee must have rendered at least four months of aggregate service, equivalent to 120 days, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2026, and remained in service, as of Oct. 31, the circular states.
Qualifying service includes actual service rendered in regular, contractual, or casual positions, including authorized leaves of absence with pay.
The city said Nov. 10 that LGU departments and offices that have submitted complete requirements early are prioritized in the release of the bonus and cash gift. The DBM earlier said that both benefits must be released together with the first November salary, not through a separate or later payroll.
Gasataya urged the employees that while the city government is ensuring that all benefits will be given to them, they should also give to taxpayers their “taxes’ worth in public services”.
“Liwat kita nga nagapahanumdum sa aton mga empleyado – ang tanan nga para sa inyo, ginatinguhaan kag ginasiguro naton nga magtupa sa inyo,” the mayor said in a post Nov. 9. “I implore you to do the same for our taxpayers, let us give them their taxes’ worth in public services”.
Gasataya also said the city already set aside funds for the CNA incentive that is expected to be released next month, amid appeals to relax the requirements. “The most important thing is that the city has already prepared the funds, and we just want to ensure that we will be able to comply with the guidelines of the DBM.”
The DBM said a one-time CNA incentive of up to P30,000 shall be received by qualified employees not earlier than Dec. 15 and not later than Dec. 31, subject to agency performance, compliance with eligibility requirements, and the availability of allowable funds.
“The P30,000 ceiling is not an automatic entitlement. The actual amount employees may receive will depend on their agency’s compliance with the prescribed conditions and the savings available to fund the incentive,” DBM acting secretary Kim Robert De Leon said in a statement.
Those qualified to receive the incentive are civilian personnel occupying regular, contractual, or casual positions, whether full-time or part-time, in national government agencies, constitutional offices enjoying fiscal autonomy, state universities and colleges, government-owned or -controlled corporations, local water districts, and local government units. | CGC
