MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday clarified that the bonuses given to public school teachers were not taken from the agency's savings.
In a statement, the DepEd said that teachers' bonuses have been sourced from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund since 2012.
The DepEd also said the funds for the bonuses are included in the General Appropriations Act.
"Public school teachers, like all government employees, are now under a Performance-Based Incentive System (PBIS) consisting of an across-the-board Performance Enhancement Incentive (PEI) of P5,000 plus a Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) ranging from P5,000 to P35,000, depending on performance.
"This means that a teacher or employee now receives a minimum of P10,000 to a maximum of P40,000 versus the P10,000 across the board bonus in previous years," the DepEd said.
The DepEd's clarification came following Thursday’s Senate hearing on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program, which aligned savings of government agencies to respective projects.