The government started Wednesday the release of P69.4 billion for the yearend bonus and cash gifts of state workers.
“This is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to ensure that our government workers are given these rightful tokens for all their sacrifices that are greatly contributing to the reactivation of our economy,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a statement.
She said that according to Item 6.1 of the DBM Budget Circular (BC) No. 2016-4, the yearend bonus is equivalent to one month of basic pay as of Oct. 31, and the cash gift of P5,000 should be given to qualified government personnel not earlier than Nov. 15.
Public servants who have rendered at least a total of four months of service from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31 of the current year and remained in government service as of Oct. 31 of the same year are eligible to receive the bonus and cash gift.
The DBM said that in the case of the national government agencies (NGAs), it allotted P45.3 billion for the yearend bonus of the civilian personnel and P15.2 billion for the military or uniformed personnel.
Meanwhile, P8.9 billion was allocated for the cash gift of over 1.7 million civilian and military and uniformed personnel in the NGAs.
Pangandaman reminded government workers to use their bonuses wisely and only spend it for their needs, and for the things that matter.
Congress passed House Bill 8980, or the 2024 General Appropriations Bill, on its third and final reading and transmitted it to the Senate on Nov. 4.
President Marcos is expected to sign the 2024 national budget in December.