Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor called on the government to give the mid-year bonus to government employees early. In Manila, Mayor Isko Moreno has already signed the fund for such a bonus for city staff.
According to Defensor, it would be good if the government gives the mid-year bonus on May 14, Friday.
“The early release of their incentive will be a big help to our more than one million workforce in the bureaucracy amid the pandemic, especially our healthcare and other frontliner workers, ” said the congressman in the statement.
Defensor added that government nurses should also be given greater incentives and their salaries increased.
According to the legislator, Republic Act No. 11466 said that, “state personnel, from the president down to the lowest-paid janitor or clerk, are entitled to a mid-year incentive equivalent to one-month salary, to be given not earlier than May 15 of every year.”
He added that the Department of Budget and Management should have released the funds for such a bonus.
“Since May 15 this year falls on a Saturday, I am appealing to our agencies to advance the payment of the bonus on Friday,” said Defensor.
Defensor urges gov’t to give mid-year bonus early
In Manila, Mayor Moreno announced that he has already approved the release of P350-million for the mid-year bonus of city staff.
About 8,745 regular city employees will receive such a bonus starting May 18.
The mayor hopes the mid-year bonus will help staff who continue to work now with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are under the State of Emergency in the city of Manila and at the same time, we are under the State of Public Health emergency as declared by the President,” the mayor said.
Meanwhile, unemployment rate fell to 7.1 percent in March 2021. This is the lowest reported rate covering the period of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since April 2020.
Unemployment among Filipinos 15 years and over in March 2021 was estimated at 3.44 million, a reduction of about 747 thousand unemployed persons from February 2021.
Labor force participation rate (LFPR) bounced back to 65.0 percent in March 2021, or a total of 48.77 million Filipinos 15 years old and over who were either employed or unemployed. It was the highest LFPR since April 2014.
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