Cebu City Hall workers to get P7K Charter bonus

CEBU City Hall employees will each receive a P7,000 bonus from the P36.7 million Supplemental Budget 1 (SB1) proposed before the City Council.

Mayor Michael Rama said he settled for P7,000 for each employee to make sure that the city doesn’t exceed its 45 percent Personal Service (PS) limitation set by the national government.

Rama endorsed the supplemental budget to the City Council yesterday.  Of the amount, about P31.2 million will fund the Charter Day bonus of the employees and officials. Rama earlier announced a P5,000 Charter Day bonus.

The other P5.5 million will go to settling the payables incurred in this year’s Sinulog festivities.

Funding will be taken from last year’s surplus funds, Cebu City administrator Jose Marie Poblete said.

“It’s not a question of money.  We have funds but we cannot spend all these on bonuses because we also have to consider other obligations,” he said.  The city government gave a P10,000 Charter Day bonus last year because it was a “milestone” year for the city.

Poblete said the P7,000 forms part of the P10,000 balance of the P20,000 additional Christmas bonus Rama promised last year.

The city government only released P10,000 of the P20,000 bonus to avoid exceeding the PS limitation.

Rama said if SB 1 is approved ahead of the Feb. 24 Charter Day celebration, then the bonuses would be processed and released in time for the event. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac