City Hall urged to release productivity bonus before Sept. 15

CEBU, Philippines- The Cebu City Council is urging the city’s executive department to release the productivity enhancement incentive of City Hall officials and employees not later than September 15.

In a special session yesterday, the council approved a resolution authored by Councilors Margarita Osmeña, Mary Ann de los Santos, Lea Japson, and Eugenio Gabuya on the matter.

“The Cebu City Council is aware and sensitive to the employees clamor for the immediate release of the said Productivity Enhancement Incentive,” the resolution reads.

Ex-officio member and Tisa Barangay Captain Philip Zafra abstained from voting, saying the same cannot be done so because the council has not allocated a budget for the bonus.

The Councilors present were Osmeña, De los Santos, Gabuya, Japson, Sisinio Andales, Alvin Dizon, Alvin Arcilla, Noel Wenceslao, Gerardo Carillo, Nendell Hanz Abella, and James Cuenco.

The disbursal of PEI to all employees is pursuant to Executive Order No. 181 issued by the Office of the President in June, which is to grant P5,000 or equivalent to the one month salary of the employees.

The PEI, amounting to P77 million, is one of the items proposed by the executive department under the P3.32 billion supplemental budget for this year.

The bulk of the supplemental budget is the P2.4 billion for the prepayment of the South Road Properties loan. The executive department believed that the city government could save millions of pesos if it will prepay the SRP loan as early as now.

In 1996, the city entered into an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency for the Y12.315 billion or around P4.65 billion loan to finance the reclamation of the 300-hectare SRP. The city still owes JICA over P2.3 billion, which is scheduled to be paid fully in 2025.

The executive department has categorized the supplemental budget as “urgent and necessary.”

Osmeña, chairperson of the committee on budget and finance, said the committee is constrained to approve the whole supplemental budget because the executive department has not submitted documentation to support the proposal.

“The approval of the Supplemental Budget shall take time considering there are some items that need to be clarified by the local finance committee such as but not limited to the subsidy to Special Accounts of (CREMDEC, CCMC, DWUP, Market Operations, and Abattoir Operations),” the resolution reads.

Osmeña said the executive department could find ways to release the bonus of the employees ahead of the supplemental budget.

The source of fund for the P3.32 billion is the SRP sale amounting to P8 billion collected by the city government.

“I’m for the passage of the resolution, however, it is very basic that the executive department cannot release the bonus without the appropriation or allocation,” Wenceslao said.

Osmeña said the executive department could resubmit another supplemental budget with only the bonus of the employees and different source of fund, since City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas earlier said that the city government has other source of fund for the bonus alone.

However, City Accountant Mark Salomon said identifying the sources of fund is the discretion of the executive department.

Carillo said the members of the council will approve items of the supplemental budget that they deem urgent.

“We can approve and deny other items. I am for the passage of the resolution but it cannot be done since there is no allocation yet. Let’s just approve the bonus item then let the executive department submit another supplemental budget,” he said.

Arcilla said the council may be in bad light for only approving the bonus out of the SRP sale.

After the special session, Salomon described the Council resolution as “useless” since it is basic under the Local Government Code that they could not use public funds without allocation approved by the body.

Salomon said they will wait when the council would pass the supplemental budget.

He said it would be inappropriate for the executive department to propose for the supplemental budget only for the bonus without other projects for public service.

Sought for comment, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said he is saddened by the thought that the supplemental budget was not approved.

“Aside from bonuses, we should think of the basic projects that are for public service. The bonus of the employees is equally important to the public service,” he said.  (FREEMAN)