No founding anniversary bonus for Capitol employees — Gwen

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia says there won’t be no anniversary bonus for this year because Capitol employees have been receiving salaries higher even than their private sector counterparts,  | CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Unlike the previous founding anniversary celebrations, Cebu Capitol employees may not expect any bonus this year.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a press conference on Tuesday, July 30, said Capitol employees should no longer expect “big fat bonuses” as their salaries were already “much, much higher than their counterparts in the private sector.

Garcia said the lowest-earning Capitol employees, who belong to the utility services, earns P560 a day or higher than the private sector minimum wage of P386 a day.

“And they still expect bonuses? No. They should not. It is a privilege to be working in the government right now ug dapat nga atong suklian na nga pribiliheyo pinaagi sa tinud-anay nga trabaho (and they should instead repay the provincial government for giving them these benefits and privileges with true hard work). We should deserve the salary that we are receiving,” said Garcia.

“Never before and never has it happened that the salaries of government employees are higher than their counterparts in tre private sector,” she added.

Read more: P15K bonus awaits Capitol employees

In 2018, the Capitol gave out P15,000 to casual and regular employees as anniversary bonus. About P25 million was set aside from the Capitol’s treasury for the bonuses,” said Garcia.

She said she would rather spend the resources of the province to projects “that would give benefits back to the province” and for the people who would mostly need it.

Garcia also said that regardless if there was a bonus or not, Capitol employees would still be held accountable for their “sloppy and inefficient work.”/dbs