Mandaue City job order workers told to refund cash incentives

MARK Payopan, a 28-year-old member of Mandaue City’s demolition team, is in financial trouble.

The barangay Looc resident  is being told by the Commission on Audit (COA) to refund the P4,000 cash incentive he and other contractual employees were given by the Mandaue City government last December.

He said he hopes the COA would just let them enjoy the cash incentive because he only earns P265 per day.

Payopan,  an orphan, said he can’t even afford to have a girlfriend  because his  salary isn’t enough to pay his bills.

Aside from Payopan, job order employees, barangay health workers and and clean and green sanitation workers were also ordered to reimburse their cash incentives given to them last December.

COA issued a notice of disallowance to the Mandaue City government about this, said City Legal Officer Giovanni Tianero.

The COA regional office conducted an audit on the Performance Enhancement Incentive (PEI) given to these workers and said the allocation violates  Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Budget Circular 2010-3.

But Tianero said the lcity  government  has the discretion to issue incentives as long as it’s reasonable.

He said the DBM budget circular only excludes “those hired without employer-employee relationship and paid from non-personal service and appropriations” and didn’t prohibit the LGU from issuing these incentives.

Last December job order employees were given P10,000 each while clean and green and barangay nutrition health workers were each given P4,000 in cash incentives.

Tianero said the allocation of cash incentives was done in good faith since the job order employees need them.  He said he is still receiving the names of the employees who were issued notices of disallowance.

Mandaue City Hall  has 2,026 job order workers.

“The current administration recognizes the importance of job order employees here in City Hall,” Tianero said.

City Administrator lawyer James Abadia said the basis for granting the allowance was City  Ordinance No.  12-2011-675.

“The  giving of incentive is not illegal because there’s an ordinance for that,” he said.

Abadia said the city government will look into  legal remedies  in asking COA to reconsider its order to refund the cash. /Jucell Marie P. Cuyos, Correspondent