Senator Bong Go welcomed the approval by President Rodrigo Duterte of a cash incentive to qualified government employees and uniformed personnel in recognition of their hard work and contributions to the country.
The President issued Administrative Order No. 45 on December 24, 2021.
The Order authorizes the granting of a Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) amounting to a maximum of P10,000 to all regular, contractual and casual personnel, provided they are still in government service as of November 30, have rendered at least four months of service, and have not received any additional year-end benefits.
“The granting of this incentive recognizes the critical role that government workers play in nation-building. Patunay din ito sa kagustuhan ng gobyerno na mabigyan ng pagpapahalaga ang kanilang mga sakripisyo, lalo na sa panahon ng pandemya,” Go said.
“Patunay din ito sa kagustuhan ng gobyerno na mabigyan ng pagpapahalaga ang kanilang mga sakripisyo, lalo na sa panahon ng pandemya.”
“Ensuring the continuing delivery of government services has become particularly more challenging as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Hindi madali ang panahon ngayon. Naging mas challenging pa ang kanilang trabaho dahil nahaharap tayo sa maraming pagsubok,” the legislator added.
“Naging mas challenging pa ang kanilang trabaho dahil nahaharap tayo sa maraming pagsubok.”
Under AO No. 45, those who have rendered service for less than four months shall be entitled to a pro-rated share of the SRI from 40% to 10%. Meanwhile, employees in the legislative and judicial branches and local government units may also be granted the SRI, subject to the same conditions.
The SRI aims to ease the financial strain caused by the pandemic on many government personnel as well as to incentivize fiscal prudence and efficient utilization of funds by the concerned agencies.
For the employees in the executive branch, the SRI will be charged against the released Personnel Services or Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses allotments, or in the case of a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation, the approved corporate operating budget.
The SRI will also be chargeable against the respective budgets of the Senate, House of Representatives, Judiciary, Office of the Ombudsman and other offices.
The Order excludes consultants and experts, laborers, student workers and apprentices, and individuals and groups whose services are engaged through job orders, contracts of service, and other similar employment schemes.
In 2018, Duterte fulfilled his campaign promise of increasing the salaries of the military and uniformed personnel when he signed Joint Resolution No. 1 which doubled the base pay of a private in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, police officer I in the Philippine National Police, and the equivalent ranks in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.
The lawmaker also authored and co-sponsored the measure which became Republic Act No. 11466 or the “Salary Standardization Law 5” in 2019 to further enhance the welfare of civilian government employees. The law gives them their fifth round of salary increases which are broken down in tranches.
The senator has consistently pushed for measures recognizing the hard work and service of government frontliners.
Among these is Senate Bill No. 391, also known as the “Magna Carta for Barangays Act”, which he filed in the Senate that aims to provide barangay officials additional compensation similarly accorded to a regular government employee as well as other benefits to promote their welfare in return for the services they render in their respective communities.
