CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama has urged members of the City Council to reconsider their refusal for the City to give the P35,000 in Christmas bonus for casual and regular employees and P10,000 in gratuity pay for job order (JO) personnel, which he had promised them earlier.
“Ready ko mopirma og mga dokumento. Ipadala nako sa konseho. Ikaduha, mangayo kog special session. I will appeal to them, crying, please council make City Hall employees happy. I am back, and I will fight for it,” Rama said during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023.
What the council approved during its regular session on Wednesday, Dec. 13, was P20,000 for regular and casual employees and P5,000 for JOs.
City Councilor Noel Wenceslao, committee on budget and finance chairman, earlier said they were only following the National Government, which had announced that it would give employees in the executive branch a P20,000 bonus, and P5,000 gratuity pay.
Rama said he felt emotional and disheartened when he learned that the promise he had made to City Hall employees would not be fulfilled.
“How much was given to the job order employees? Only P5,000. That’s not what I wanted! This hurts me. I’m confused. Is there another City Hall? Is there another mayor? I’ve never had this experience because I’ve never dictated. I asked and checked how much bonus we could give,” Rama said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
He said it is unfair for JOs to receive only P5,000, while regular and casual employees will receive P20,000.
“I don’t want to give P5,000 to the job order. They have been working too much, and they will only get P5,000. That’s not fair! Is it fair? Nya modawat mo’g P35,000? Bisan P20,000 pa na ihatag, nya P5,000 for job order, it’s not fair and it can’t ever be fair,” Rama said.
He said he will fight for the bonus he initially promised now that he is back, adding that he will ask the executive department to do something.
“So palihug lang, naa pa ba tay chance nga ato mahatag ang (Please, is there any chance that we can still give the) P35,000, P10,000 sa (to the) job order? Make my being around and Misa de Gallo a happy arrival, not an arrival where I am embarrassed before my employees....Mo fight jud ko para sa inyong (I will fight for your) bonus. May na lang na bisan (even though) you are not deserving, but you can make your family happy. That is Christmas. That is what I am fighting for,” Rama said.
On Monday, City Budget Officer Jerone Castillo said that as early as February, the mayor and the City Council had committed to provide a P50,000 bonus to regular and casual employees. The P15,000 was already distributed during the Charter Day celebration, he said.
Based on Rama’s instructions, he said the remainder would be given at the end of the year.
He said this is the reason they pushed for the P35,000 Christmas bonus.
He said the local finance committee has acted in accordance with what is legal, correct, and right, following Rama’s instructions.
“Everything has been done, and perhaps, our only hope is that the actions of the City Council will also align with what is right, legal and correct based on the mayor’s instructions,” Castillo said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
However, City Administrator Collin Rosell said the City Government should follow the administrative order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. which mandated the granting of a service recognition incentive (SRI) in the amount of P20,000.
Last Dec. 7, Marcos signed Administrative Order 12, which authorized the grant of SRI to government employees for fiscal year 2023.
“On our part, it is clear that we need to implement the SRI of P20,000, and then we can continue with additional bonuses. So, there really is not any problem,” Rosell said.
Wenceslao, in a text message on Monday, said the ordinance earlier approved by the council can still be amended. However, it will need to pass a two-thirds vote for this purpose.
