Extra P73M budget to cover City Hall bonuses

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the additional P20,000 Christmas bonus for employees of Cebu City Hall will be partly released before Dec. 25.

The balance will come next year, he said, to avoid exceeding a budget limit of spending a maximum of 45 percent for Personnel Service.

“Hopefully we will be able to release the bonuses but not in full because there may be a problem with the PS limitation. We might get hit by that),” he said.

Rama said the actual figure will still be determined by the city treasurer and budget officer.

The Local Finance Committee has submitted to the Cebu City Council supplemental budget 3 worth P73 million.

The budget will be spent on the bonuses of City Hall employees and the payment of the P2,000 allowance of each city police officer that hasn’t been released since August.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, head of the council’s budget committee, said she couldn’t understand how Mayor Rama would facilitate the release of the P10,000 balance next year.

Told that SB3 will be funded from savings of City Hall departments, Osmena commented: “They are scraping the bottom of the barrel. “

The supplemental budget was submitted as the council is finishing its review of the mayor’s proposed P6.7 billion annual budget for next year.

“Maybe we shouldn’t sleep because we’ll review the SB3,” she said.

The bonuses will cover City Hall’s 3,000 casual employees and over 1,000 regular employees.

Dec. 19 is the last session date to act on the extra budget before the City Council goes on a Christmas break.

Osmeña said if SB 3 is submitted for first reading, the council may need a special session to review and act on the report.Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac