DBM: Gov't employees to receive 14th month pay

Government employees will receive a 14th month pay on May 15, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Friday. This is a mid-year bonus equivalent to a month's basic salary, in line with Executive Order (EO) No. 201 signed by President Benigno S.C Aquino III in February. A Budget Circular issued by Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad on Thursday, specified the employees who would get their 14th month pay next month. 

All government employees ( civilian and military) will be given additional bonuses. Covered by Budget Circular No. 2016-3 are all positions for civilian personnel, whether regular, casual, or contractual in nature, appointive or elective, full-time or part-time. "Eight in every 10 civilian personnel will receive their mid-year bonus in full, or tax-free under Republic Act 10653, which provides that gross benefits such as the 13th month pay and other benefits not exceeding P82,000 shall be tax exempt," Abad said in a separate statement Friday.

 “These means the majority of civilian personnel will take home their mid-year bonus in full. They are the 970,943 civilian employees belonging to Salary Grades 1 to 16,” he added. Also included are military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the Department of National Defense and uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Public Safety College, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology of the Department of Interior and Local Government. Uniformed personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority will also receive additional bonuses.

The DBM said an employee must have rendered at least a total or an aggregate of four months of service from July 1, 2015 to May 15, 2016 to get a bonus. They must also have obtained at least a satisfactory performance rating in the immediately preceding period, and must still be in active service as of May 15. However, employees of government-owned and -controlled companies are not covered by the circular as they are classified under the Compensation and Position Classification System under E.O. 203 which the President signed last month.

"The amounts required for the grant of FY 2016 Mid-Year Bonus to personnel of National Government Agencies (NGAs) shall be charged against the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund," the circular read.

"The DBM shall issue the corresponding Notice of Cash Allocation to cover the Mid-Year Bonus of agency personnel to be given not earlier than May 15 of the current year, subject to the provisions of National Budget Circular No. 561 dated January 4, 2016 on the release of funds," it added. – Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News