Councilor Raymond Garcia (right) has made a promise to ensure passage of his Joe Navarro Ordinance that will provide retirement gratuity to barangay officials. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines –Barangay officials may soon receive retirement gratuity if the Cebu City Council passes a draft ordinance by Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia that will authorize the release of the compensation after they have completed their respective terms.
Garcia’s ordinance proposes the release of gratuity that will be computed based on the number of years that barangay officials spent in government service.
“Wala silay insurance ba. Kung unsay mahitabo nila, walay managot sa ilang mga expenses. Og mamatay sila, samot nga wala. That’s why we thought of giving them some sort of help para ig retire nila from service naa silay makuha nga gratuity,” Garcia told CDN Digital in a telephone interview today, August 3.
(They are not covered by insurance. Whatever happens to them, no one will take care of their expenses. If they die, the families that they would leave behind will not get anything (from the city government). That’s why we thought of giving them some sort of help so that when they retire from service they will receive gratuity.)
Under Garcia’s proposal, barangay captains are entitled to receive retirement gratuity of P5, 000 that will be computed per year of service while barangay councilors will get P3, 000 per year of service.
In case an official dies after serving only for six months in office, he will still be given gratuity that is equivalent to a year’s service.
Barangay captains who have completed a three-year term in office could avail of bigger retirement gratuity of P15,000 per year of service while barangay councilors will each get P9,000 computed per year of service.
Garcia said that those who wish to retire from service, may opt to already avail of the retirement gratuity program. The official will be asked to fill up the prescribed Retirement Gratuity Form and secure a certification from DILG to serve as proof of the number of years that he spent in government service.
However, Garcia said that in case of suspension by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) or the Sanguniang Panlungsod, the duration of the suspension will be deducted from the official’s gratuity benefits.
Those who will be ordered dismissed from service can no longer avail of the city’s retirement gratuity.
Garcia’s draft ordinance is now pending with the City Council’s Laws and Ordinances Committee through its vice chairperson Philip Zafra, for review.
As committee chairperson, Garcia is prohibited from also reviewing his own proposal. But he expressed confidence that this will be passed into law before the year ends.
Garcia said elected barangay officials deserve gratuity benefits because they are not considered as regular government employees and are not enrolled with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) that will ensure them retirement and funeral benefits.
The release of gratuity benefits to barangay officials is not also specified on the Local Government Code of the Philippines.
He cited the case of the late Punta Princesa barangay captain Joee Navarro, who died in 2016 and after 36 years in government service. Navarro also used to be president of the city’s Association of Barangay Councils (ABC).
Navarro, Garcia said, did not get any financial help from City Hall after he succumbed to liver failure. Navarro was at 73-years-old then.
Garcia said it is very “pitiful” that barangay officials do not get anything from the city government even after they spent most of their lives in public service.
In honor of the late Punta Princesa barangay captain, who also used to be an ally of his father, former mayor Alvin Garcia, Councilor Garcia said he wanted to name his retirement gratuity ordinance as the Joe Navarro Ordinance. /dcb