• CHERYL G. CRUZ
A total of P54.5 million in appropriation was approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod Dec. 13 for the service recognition incentive (SRI) of qualified employees, as well as the gratuity pay to contract of service (COS) and job order (JO) workers of the Bacolod City government.
The P27 million for the grant of SRI, and P27.5 million in gratuity pay will be taken from the Personal Services from Unfilled Vacant Positions and various Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) accounts that will be reappropriated to Special Purpose Appropriation-Other Personnel Benefits Fund and MOOE account, as per certification issued by City Budget Officer Maria Imelda Williams.
The approval by the SP of the appropriation ordinance during its regular session Wednesday afternoon came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in Administrative Order (AO) No. 12 signed Dec. 7 and made public Dec. 12, authorized the grant of a one-time SRI of P20,000 for government employees.
Section 2 of the AO states the SRI is granted to personnel occupying regular, contractual or casual positions; personnel who are still in government service as of Nov. 30, 2023; and personnel who rendered at least four months of satisfactory service.
AO 13, on the other hand, approved the grant of a one-time gratuity pay of not more than P5,000 each for COS and JO employees, who have rendered at least four months of actual satisfactory performance of service, as stipulated in their contracts, as of Dec. 15, and whose contracts are still effective as of said date.
Both payments of P20,000 SRI and P5,000 gratuity pay to qualified employees shall be given not earlier than Dec. 15. | CGC
