- GILBERT BAYORAN
Employees of the provincial government of Negros Occidental, except for job order and Contract of Service workers, may receive an additional bonus of not less than P50,000 this Christmas season, said Provincial Administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, Nov. 17.
Diaz said the additional bonuses for regular, casual, and co-terminus employees, as well as those in plantilla positions, will be comprised of P25,000 in Collective Negotiation Incentives(CNI), P10,000 Service Recognition Incentive, P5,000 Productivity Enhancement Incentive, and a Performance Based Bonus equivalent to 65 percent of the salary of an employee.
This is on top of the 14th month pay, which is now being distributed to Capitol employees, Diaz said.
Capitol employees received P65,000 in total Christmas bonus in 2021.
Diaz also announced that COS and JO workers of the provincial government will receive a gratuity pay of P3,000 each, as well as food packs.
Employees of the Negros Occidental provincial government already received their 13th month pay in May this year.
Renelo Lastierre, president of the Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees (PACE), said they are “still privileged” despite the lesser bonus, compared to what they got in 2021.
As members of PACE, an accredited union, Lastierre said that Capitol employees will still receive a bigger additional bonus compared to other local government units in Negros Occidental because of the CNI.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has ruled out the giving of P25,000 IBES or Incentive Benefit for Exemplary Services, following objections from the Commission on Audit.
“We will be giving only what is allowed. We will stop the policy of giving IBES, knowing that it will be denied,” Lacson said.
Should they win their arguments before the Supreme Court, he said the provincial government will grant the IBES to the employees anew./GB
