Task Force Kasaligan closing ceremony. | photo by Police Colonel Ligan
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has assured the release of the P3,000 to P10,000 Christmas bonus to City Hall employees.
Labella said the bonus is minimal compared to the past years but was necessary to lift the spirits of the city’s workers who were asked to perform more than their job descriptions during the pandemic to help facilitate the city’s response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The mayor said the proposed bonus has been approved by the City Council pending review by the City Legal Office.
The Cebu City Legal Office has already given the recommendation to the Office of the Mayor and the City Council that as long as there are available funds, the city government can release the proposed amount to regular, casual, and job-order employees.
Regular and casual employees who have worked with the city beyond 3 months, will receive a bonus of P10,000. For those working less than three months as a regular or casual employee, they will have a pro-rated bonus of 20 to 60 percent.
As for job-order employees, they will receive a fixed P3,000 Christmas bonus, including the 200 recently hired personnel of Task Force Kasaligan, who served the city during the pandemic.
The mayor said these civilian augmentation forces helped the police amid the trying times when the public have not been cooperative with the health protocols imposed
He considered the task force as one of the reasons why the COVID-19 cases in the city dropped to a mere 170 active cases as of December 15, 2020.
“They deserve to get the bonus because they worked hard this pandemic,” said the mayor.
The Christmas bonus should be released in time for Christmas. /rcg