Anniversary Celebration, Capitol gives lesser bonus

CEBU, Philippines - The festivities for the 444th founding anniversary of the Province of Cebu yesterday ended with Governor Hilario Davide III announcing a lesser bonus to Capitol employees.

During  his speech during the celebration at the Capitol, Davide thrilled employees by ending his speech without mentioning the bonus.

But as Capitol employees cheered on, Davide went back onstage and confirmed that Capitol personnel who were employed as of January 1 to December 31, 2012 will receive P15,000 each as collective negotiation agreement incentives with the Provincial Employees Association of Cebu, Inc.

"This incentive is supposed to be based on the modified Performance Evaluation System covering the period of January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. However, I have decided that on the special occasion of our 444thFounding Anniversary, this incentive shall be given across the board," said Davide.

Last year, bonuses of employees were performance-based with some getting additional P10,000 to P15,000 on top of the CNA incentive of P15,000. With this, some employees got at least P12,000 while some received P30,000 at most.

Davide also announced the Program on Awards and Incentives Service Excellence or PRAISE, which is given to top performing offices from executive, legislative and hospitals under the provincial government based on the Modified Performance Evaluating System covering the period from July 1 to June 30, 2012.

aEmployees from the top five offices under these categories will be getting P3,000, P2,500, P2,000, P1,500 and P1,000 for the first to fifth places, respectively.

Davide said there were circumstances that lessened the amount of the incentives.

"I would have liked to personally evaluate the top ranking offices and ratings system, just as my predecessor did and which, of course, I am not able to do since I was not here during the period covered; and second, budget constraints."

Earlier this year, then acting governor Agnes Magpale reported that payables of the provincial government was close to P1 billion --a major concern they saw considering that there was only less than a hundred million in its general funds.

When Davide sits as governor, he directed department heads to be prudent in their expenditures and not to spend lavishly.

"However, it is important to give these awards…Notonly to recognize the government's initiative for its public servants to work towards service excellence and to recognize the top offices but also to encourage everyone to work toward this level of recognition in the years to come. And next year, let me assure you that if our budget permits, we will make the awards bigger," said Davide.

The top five offices under the executive department are: Provincial Planning and Development Office, Provincial Budget Office, Provincial Accountant's Office, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and the Provincial Governor's Office.

Under the legislative department, the first to fifth position went to Vice Governor's office, Office of Provincial Board Member Teddy Ouano, Provincial Secretary's Office, Office of Provincial Board Member Peter John Calderon and Provincial Board Member Alex Binghay, respectively.

Under the hospitals category, the top five hospitals are the Balamban District Hospital, Jesus M. Paras Memorial district hospital in Carcar City, Danao City District Hospital, Mariano Jesus Cuenco Hospital in Malabuyoc town and the Daanbantayan District Hospital.

Meanwhile, in the dance competition for Capitol employees per cluster, representatives from the legislative department bagged the grand prize and took home P30,000.

The executive department and the group of financiers won second and third place, respectively. All departments were well-represented, including first-time participants the Cebu Provincial jail wardens.

Dressed in black blazers, black pants, white shirts and sunglasses, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and the Provincial Board members grooved to "Gentleman" by Korean singer Psy.

Guest performers during the anniversary celebration were the Cebu Dancesport team and the Sandiego Dance Company.

Messages

In his homily during the Mass before the celebration, Msgr. Dennis Villarojo of Our Lady of Sacred Heart Parish mentioned the transfiguration which is "an invitation for all of us to attain our fullest human possibilities that can only be attained to the submission to the will of God."

"It is also my wish as a Cebuano citizen that all of us, citizens and officials alike, would always be concerned of the common good, to work for it, so that all of us can benefit from the opportunities presented to us by this great Province of Cebu," he said.

In his speech, Davide mentioned that during his first week in office he got a text message from someone.

Davide said he was asked about the 'matuwid na daan' and why it was contrary to the actions in the Capitol where people were calling shots on who to retain and who to let go.

"Wala ra to nako," said Davide, but he reiterated his request for respect from Capitol employees and for everyone to work together.

"Respetoan nato ug we recognize the authority of the governor sa iyang pili-on," said Davide.

Further, Davide pointed out that there is no need to spend a lot to celebrate the anniversary.

"It's enough that we offer this day as a thanksgiving for all the blessings nga nahatag gikan sa Kahitas-an  alang sa mga Sugbuanon ug sa lalawigan sa Sugbo kining atong anibersaryo," he added.

Magpale said she is very thankful to her fellow public servants at the Capitol.

"This is the best time to express my gratitude to my fellow public servants here in the Capitol as we celebrate the 444th founding anniversary. For the past six months I have been here bisan sa sinugdanan naglibog pa sila but in the end ang mga tawo nihusgar nga mayo ra ang nahitabo sa Capitol because my co-public servants are very cooperative and we will work together as one," she said.— /BRP (FREEMAN)