Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. EDWIN BACASMAS
MANILA, Philippines—All bonuses, including the mandated 13th month pay, of government workers will now be reflected in the proposed P2.26 trillion national budget for 2014, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Thursday.
Escudero, chairman of Senate committee on finance, revealed that next year’s proposed budget has indicated the bonuses that state employees would get.
“The additional bonus and the 13th month pay are already reflected in the budget per agency. It’s already in the budget of each agency,” he said during a weekly forum at the Senate.
Asked if the agencies’ savings could still be converted into bonuses of the employees, Escudero said, “Not anymore. That’s prohibited.”
He said the allocation intended for the hiring of non-uniformed police personnel for example could no longer be used as savings under a line item budget, which would now be used for next year’s proposed appropriations.
“Because it’s a line item and there will be performance indicators, the budget for instance for the hiring of 7,000 non-uniformed personnel of the PNP will now become an indicator. If they did not hire and instead used the budget as savings, that will affect the performance of the agency,” he said.