A teacher guides her students before a nationwide earthquake drill at the Rafael Palma Elementary School in Manila on September 8, 2022. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Thursday said it has released P11.6 billion for the bonuses of 920,073 public school teachers nationwide – two years after they were supposed to receive it.
The DBM withheld the release of the 2021 Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) for public school teachers after finding inconsistencies in the required documents submitted by the Department of Education (DepEd).
The DepEd only managed to reconcile the inconsistencies from April to August this year.
READ: 2021 bonuses for teachers being reconciled, not delayed, says DepEd
“The Department of Budget and Management has released a total of P11.6 billion for the FY (fiscal year) 2021 Performance-Based Bonus of 920,073 personnel in various public elementary and secondary schools that are under the Department of Education,” the DBM announced in a statement.
It also said that its 16 regional offices have released the Special Allotment Release Orders and Notice of Cash Allocations for the 2021 PBB to the DepEd.
Before this announcement, the DBM already issued P950,942,317 – which is part of the P11.6 billion – for the 2021 PBB of teachers in the National Capital Region (NCR).
READ: DBM to release NCR teachers’ bonus 2 years late; flags duplicate entries in other regions
The DBM noted the “strikingly high number of eligible personnel at around 900,000 employees in the DepEd, and the voluminous documents being submitted for the purpose.”
As for the 2021 PBB of non-teaching DepEd personnel, the budget agency said the money is being withheld in its regional offices in the NCR, Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Eastern Visayas, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, and Caraga because it found various issues in required documents.
“The documents were sent back due to varying concerns, such as duplicate entries, incorrect information on the months of service, and certain personnel not found in the DepEd’s Personnel Services Itemization and Plantilla of Personnel, among others,” the DBM said.
It promised to process the release of the PBBs for non-teaching DepEd personnel once the documents are in order.
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