BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Compared to what they received last year, Negros Occidental provincial government employees will receive lesser extra bonus this December, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson confirmed yesterday.
“We will be giving only what is allowed,” Lacson said.
On Tuesday, provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, said the provincial government would no longer give incentive benefits for exemplary service (IBES) because the provincial government received Notices of Disallowance from the Commission on Audit (COA) over it.
“We will stop the policy of giving IBES, knowing that it will be denied,” Lacson said.
Capitol employees each received IBES amounting to P25,000 last year and in previous years.
Further, according to Lacson, giving IBES would adversely affect retiring employees because such would be deducted from their retirement benefits.
“We will stop giving it but if [our appeal in the Supreme Court] wins, we will give it again,” he added.
The governor, meanwhile, did not reveal the exact amount of the employees’ extra bonus this year.
Diaz said the basis for the extra bonus this year would be the collective negotiation agreement, productivity enhancement incentive (PEI) and performance-based bonus (PBB).
Last year, each capitol employee received an additional P65,000 bonus.
Lacson said the disallowance for IBES covers not only 2021 but even the previous years.
“Christmas is within us. It’s not about money. It’s about being with your family and reconciling with loved ones, and besides, government employees are still better off than many of us,” the governor added./PN