P35 thousand bonus ‘uncertain’

CEBU, Philippines —  The P35,000 Christmas bonus for Cebu City Hall regular and casual employees remains in deliberation and the amount could still change, Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said last Friday.

While the 13th-month pay and the P5,000 year-end bonus had already been released last November 15, he said distribution of the P35,000 is still uncertain.

"Dili lang sa ta muistorya anang patapos kay that (Christmas bonus) really have to go through the (City) Council. We really have to deliberate on that matter. But, definitely, naa na gyuy bonus. Ang pangutana, kung kanus-a ug pila gyud," Garcia said.

Meanwhile, the City Council Wednesday last week referred to the Committee on Laws Garcia's ordinance on the financial assistance for Job Order (JO) employees.

Garcia requested City Councilor Rey Gealon, committee on laws chairman, to submit the committee report on his “Ordinance establishing and instituting the grant of gratuity pay to job order personnel in Cebu City” as soon as possible, to hasten its approval.

Currently, while regular and casual employees get bonuses, JOs do not receive any, as there is no legal backing to grant them the benefits since the nature of their contract with the City has "no employer-employee relationship".

Should the Committee on Laws already submit its report and it gets approved during the Council session this Wednesday, the ordinance would undergo a second ready and then a final deliberation.

Garcia said he was hopeful that the ordinance gets approved during the first or second week of December so that the City Government will have a basis to grant bonuses for the JO employees.

"We will look if there is a budget, an annual budget nga atong ma-charge. If not, wa gyud tay choice, supplemental (budget) gyud ta," he said.

He expressed optimism that the financial assistance for JOs would be distributed before the year ends.

"Very positive ko.  Naa lang tingaliy adjustments," he said.

As proposed, JOs would get P1,000 to P5,000 as financial assistance, depending on the number of months they have worked at City Hall. /RHM