Garcia aborts measure on Charter Day bonus

CEBU, Philippines —  After meeting objection from the Cebu City minority councilors, Councilor Raymond Garcia ended up withdrawing the measure granting Charter Day bonus to City Hall workers.

The city government’s Programs on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) committee has supposedly recommended granting each employee P10,000 bonus.

But it did not sit well with most of the minority bloc councilors, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Councilor Nestor Archival, minority floor leader, said it is not fitting at this point in time considering that the incentives for City Hall workers are from the taxes of struggling private businesses and their employees.

He said City Hall employees continue receiving their salaries even if they are not reporting to work full time compared to the employees in the private companies.

Private employees, he said, are working on a limited time and some on a no work, no pay scheme.

Reeling from the impact caused by COVID-19, Councilor Augustus “Joy” Young said, more companies are opting to shut down or retrench workers.

Young asked Councilor Raymond Garcia, who authored the council resolution for the said request, to appeal to PRAISE committee to withdraw the recommendation.

“Maulaw ta ana uy.Wa ta katabang sa private sector,” said Young.

Young said workers in the government “should take note that they are working to serve and not for praises and incentives.”

“We all work in the government for service and it’s part of the job, not for bonus and not at this time,” he added.

For Councilor Eugenio Gabuya, Jr., the timing “is not right.”

Even Councilor Philip Zafra of the administration-allied majority bloc echoed the statements of the minority bloc councilors.

Following the measure’s disapproval by some council members, Garcia decided to withdraw the council measure. — KQD (FREEMAN)