DBM to release cash incentive to gov’t workers

Government workers will soon receive their service recognition incentive of not more than P20,000 after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the release of its funding, the Budget Department announced on Monday.

Qualified government employees shall receive the incentive no earlier than Tuesday.

The Department of Budget and Management said the President has greenlighted the release of a one-time Service Recognition Incentive to qualified government workers ahead of the holiday celebrations.

DBM explained that the SRI grant aims to continuously incentivize government employees for their "unwavering commitment and dedication in the performance of their duties and responsibilities towards quality and responsive delivery of public services."

Thanking the President for the approval of the SRI grant, the DBM Secretary AmenahPangandaman described it as an "early gift" as Christmas Day approaches.

Civilian personnel in national government agencies, including those in state universities and colleges and government-owned or controlled corporations, occupying regular, contractual, or casual positions, are qualified to receive the said one-time incentive.

Military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the Department of National Defense, and uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology under the Department of the Interior and Local Government would also receive the grant.

Also qualified are employees from the Bureau of Corrections under the Department of Justice, the Philippine Coast Guard under the Department of Transportation, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Employees of the Senate, House of Representatives, Judiciary, Office of the Ombudsman, and Constitutional Offices vested with fiscal autonomy may also be granted a one-time SRI by their respective heads of office, chargeable against the available released allotment of their respective agencies.

The grant of the one-time SRI to employees in LGUs, including those in the barangays, shall be determined by their respective sanggunians depending on the LGU's financial capability, subject to the PS limitation in LGU budgets under RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.

Meanwhile, GAs and GOCCs exempted from the coverage of RA 6758 may also grant the SRI to their employees at a uniform rate to be determined by their governing boards or agency heads.

To receive the incentive the civilian personnel must be occupying regular, contractual, or casual positions, in the service and have rendered at least a total or an aggregate of four months of satisfactory service as of 30 November 2022.

According to DBM, those entitled to the SRI grant are employees that have not received any additional year-end benefit in FY 2022 over and above the benefit authorized under Republic Act 6686, as amended by RA 8441.