PROVINCIAL EMPLOYEES GET P10,000 EXTRA CASH GIFT

Lingayen- - - If you happen to see smiling faces of provincial government employees, it is because they have received an extra cash gift of P10,000 on December 16 which was derived from the province’s own fund .

Provincial Budget Officer Hilaria J. Claveria stressed that under Republic Act 8481, government employees are entitled to receive their 13th month pay plus P5,000 worth of cash gift.

So, if you add up the P5,000 cash gift and the P10,000 additional cash gift, each employee of the provincial government received a total cash gift of P15,000 this year.

She disclosed that the amount of P27.9 million was appropriated in the annual budget to cover the extra cash gifts of some three thousand employees both regular and casual. This, however, did not include the contractual workers.

It will be recalled that the provincial government has released the mid-year bonus in June this year, the first time ever in the provincial government, wherein half of the 13th month pay or the equivalent of their monthly rate plus P2,500 representing half of the traditional P5,000 cash gift were given. The balance of the 13th month pay and traditional cash gift were given on the first week of December.

Last July, the provincial employees were also provided with a ten percent increase in their monthly salary as part of the benefits that the provincial government has envisioned to provide for human infrastructure being part of their development thrust.

Last year, under the Espino administration, the provincial government had also increased the salary of the employees by 10 percent.

For the 2009 budget, big bulk will be allotted for personal services which will cover salaries, clothing allowance, insurances, mid-year and year-end bonuses, cash gifts and other benefits of the employees. (PIO/Ruby R. Bernardino)