BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance granting productivity cash incentive to all officials and employees of the local government regardless of their employment status, including volunteers pursuant to Section 458 of the Local Government code of 1991 in relation to Executive Order No. 292 on Programs on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE).
The ordinance authored by Councilor Lilia A. Fariñas stated that the grant and payment of the productivity cash incentive will be in the amount equivalent to one half of basic salary plus P20,000 to all officials and employees.
The ordinance added that all officials and employees of the local government whether or appointive or elective, permanent or temporary, casual or contractual, job order or otherwise, drawing their salaries from the general fund, and are still in the government service as of payment of the granted cash incentive, or those that have not reached the period of said payment, but have rendered service between January to November of the current year, shall also be given a productivity cash incentive bonus.
However, those who will be exempted from the grant of the said cash incentive are officials or employees who served, currently serving or meted with administrative penalty between the period from January 1 to December 21, 2018, whether on appeal or not, unless said penalty in only reprimand and officials and employees serving criminal penalty or liability or meted with criminal liability or penalty, between January 1 to December 21, 2018 in relation to their duties and responsibilities.
The ordinance stipulated that the Productivity Cash Incentive shall be paid based on the basic monthly salary of the concerned officials and employees as of October 2018, and on the total number of months the said officials and employees have rendered from January 1 to December 31, 2018, thus, the computation shall be based on the computations pursuant to the provisions of the measure.
The ordinance explained that the Productivity Cash Incentive authorized shall be paid annually not later than December 21, 2018 and every year thereafter pursuant on existing rules and regulations prescribed for the purpose.
The ordinance tasked the city’s Local Finance Committee to source out the needed amount for the authorized incentive from the savings, either from personal services, or from the maintenance and other operating expenses of the current year’s general fund.
The ordinance disclosed that officials and employees under the Burnham Park management office and Baguio Convention Center whose benefits are being drawn from funds other than the general fund, may be given the productivity cash incentive subject to availability of savings and from the guidelines that may be issued by the board or committee or the administrator of the said funds, but in no case shall the incentive exceed the amount set in the measure, provided that, no official or employee shall be given the incentive more than once by virtue of his or her membership to the board or committee or for being the administrator of the said funds, or for any other circumstances.
By Dexter A. See
