COA urged to reconsider recall of cash incentives

MANDAUE City Hall appealed to the Commission on Audit (COA) regional office to reconsider its ruling to disallow the incentives given to more than 2,000 job-order employees on Dec. 2011.

Jamaal James Calipayan, executive secretary to the mayor, said most of the employees weren’t working for the city government anymore.

He said city officials felt the workers deserve the incentives since they receive below minimum wages.

“It’s the prerogative of the city to give incentives to the job order employees based on their performance and depending on the city’s budget,” Calipayan said.

City Administrator James Abadia said they based their decision on an ordinance which “makes it legal.”

Abadia said the awarding of the Perfomance Enhancement Incentive (PEI) to job order employees depends on their evaluation.

Abadia said there was no regulation from COA regarding the disallowance of job order employees.

Other recipients were barangay health workers and and clean and green sanitation workers.

The COA regional office said the PEI violated a Department of Budget and Management (DBM) circular.

But City Legal Officer Giovanni Tianero the circular excluded those “without employer-employee relationships.”

Also excluded were those paid from “non-personal service and appropriations.”

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. Mandaue City Hall has 2,026 job order workers.

“The current administration recognizes the importance of job order employees here in City Hall. There’s an ordinance for giving out cash incentives,” Tianero said. Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos