CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has passed an ordinance establishing a retirement gratuity benefit for elected barangay officials of the city.
The measure is authored by Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia.
“It would be beneficial to grant retirement benefits to deserving barangay officials, who are otherwise excluded from the coverage of R.A. No. 8291, in recognition for their years of dedicated service within their respective barangays,” read the ordinance.
The ordinance shall be applicable to all barangay officials of Cebu City who were elected pursuant to RA 7160 otherwise known as the “Local Government Code of 1991”.
As stated in Section 7, qualified elected barangay officials shall be entitled of the amount P5,000 for every year of service as punong barangay or barangay captain, and P3,000 for every year of service as barangay councilor.
Provided, that only the actual years of service during the effectivity of RA 7160 shall be counted; and that a fraction of at least six months in actual service shall be considered as a year of service and that the period within which barangay officials are serving a final and executory penalty of suspension shall not be considered as period actually served.
Section 5 states an elected barangay official may avail the benefits under this ordinance if he/she meets the certain requirements.
He/she must be at least 60 years old; must be living at the time of claiming the benefits; must have served at least one term of office or at least three consecutive years in actual service for the position for which he/she was elected; and must not have been terminated from office or removed for cause by final judgment.
Elected barangay officials seeking to claim their Retirement Gratuity Benefit shall accomplish a Retirement Gratuity Benefit Request Form submitted to the Office of the City Accountant, stating therein, among other details, the official’s intention to claim such benefit, the position/s occupied, the total years in service for every position/s occupied as certified by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and a statement that the official does not possess any of the disqualifications as provided under the ordinance.
The funds for the implementation of the ordinance are to be allocated yearly and to be taken as financial Assistance from the General Fund.
The Office of the Mayor, Barangay Affairs Office, City Budget Office, and Office of the City Treasurer shall provide for the implementing rules and regulations for the carrying out of the ordinance. — KQD (FREEMAN)