House may appropriate P700M yearly for Pagasa employees’ benefits

MANILA, Philippines—The House committee on appropriations on Tuesday said it would look into the possibility of incorporating the Magna Carta benefits of state weather bureau employees into the regular budget.

The panel’s presiding officer, Western Samar Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento, said they would discuss with the Department of Budget and Management the suggestion to embed the funding for the Magna Carta benefits of workers of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in the Department of Science and Technology budget.

Sarmiento’s pronouncement earned cheers from the Pagasa workers who sat through the deliberations on the DoST’s more than P10 billion proposed budget for 2013.

DoST Undersecretary Fortuno de la Peña disclosed that funds for the Magna Carta benefits of Pagasa workers actually come from the agency’s savings, which hinders the agency from declaring its funds for its workers’ benefits at the start of the year. He said creating a regular item for the said benefits under their budget would ensure that workers receive them on time.

A member of the House committee, Nueva Vizcaya Representative Carlos Padilla, said that the government had to act fast in providing their workers with benefits they were entitled to. He said that this was important so as not to lose the government’s employees.

Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Neri Colmenares agreed with this and asked the committee to look into adding P700 million to the agency’s budget. De la Peña said that this was the amount they needed to regularly cover Pagasa workers’ benefits.

De la Peña, meanwhile, confirmed that Pagasa workers had received their benefits over which they recently mounted protests.