DBM to release NCR teachers’ bonus 2 years late; flags duplicate entries in other regions

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman speaks during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on June 21, 2023. | PHOTO: INQUIRER.net file photo / Ryan Leagogo

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is set to release the 2021 performance-based bonus (PBB) of teachers in Metro Manila, according to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Monday.

This comes after groups have called for the release of the funds, with the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) recently stating that they were still waiting for good news about the PBB.

“I already instructed concerned bureaus and offices to ensure that there will be no delays, in the part of the DBM, in the release of the performance-based bonus to our dear teachers,” Pangandaman said in a statement.

According to the DBM, it has released a  Special Allotment Release Order and a Notice of Cash Allocation to the Department of Education (DepEd) amounting to P950,942,317 for qualified personnel from the education agency’s office in the National Capital Region.

Inconsistencies in regional documents

However, the Form 1.0 of the remaining regions were returned to the DepEd’s Personnel Division, Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development for revalidation or revision due to “varying concerns, such as duplicate entries, personnel indicated not found in the agency’s Personal Services Itemization and Plantilla of Personnel, among others.”

Form 1.0 is the school division superintendents’ List of Eligible Employees, which is a performance ranking report that is required for the PBB.

“As of date, the DBM Central Office is yet to receive the revised Form 1.0 for 15 regions. Afterwhich, the DBM will release the funds for the PBB of the personnel concerns in 15 regions of the DepEd,” said the DBM.

“The DBM stands with our nation’s educators and recognizes the extraordinary work they do for our country. Thus, we are one with our teachers in the pursuit of the immediate release of their PBB. Rest assured po that we will closely coordinate with the Department of Education to address this, and once we are provided with the complete requirements, we will ensure din po that the PBBs will be released as soon as possible,” Pangandaman said.

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JPV