BACOLOD City – Employees of the Bacolod City Government will receive an additional bonus of P15,000 each after the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod finally approved during its special session the request of acting Mayor Greg Gasataya for additional windfalls for regular and casual employees. Acting City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said the city government is trying to hasten the release of the additional bonuses before the year ends since there are only two remaining office days left before the New Year. Last year, City Hall workers got P30,000 each in additional bonus which was funded by savings from vacant positions. City Hall sources said the 2015 additional bonus is lower as vacant positions were filled up before Mayor Monico Puentevella served his suspension. “Only Councilor Archie Baribar abstained and qualified his reason during the special session,” Familiaran said. He said Baribar questioned the need for employees to sign a waiver if the bonus will not be disallowed by the Commission on Audit. Familiaran said they asked the budget office if the city could give the employees more than P15,000, but they were told that it is the maximum amount available. The release of the additional bonuses will depend on the preparation of the payrolls of each department. “The city, through an approved appropriation ordinance, allocated P26 million for the additional bonuses of 1,640 regular and plantilla casual employees, while P1 million will go to the terminal pay of employees who have resigned from City Hall,” Familiaran added. Also, the SP approved the request of Gasataya to extentd for another six months the garbage collection contract of Dynamic Builders and Construction Inc. By: Dolly Yasa
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THE contract between the city government and the garbage hauler was extended for six months. This, after the Sangguniang Panlungsod approved in their regular session last week a resolution to extend the contract with Dynamic Builders and Construction Inc. (DBCI) until July 1, 2016, as requested by acting Mayor Greg Gasataya. The contract was supposed to end on December 31, this year. Gasataya’s request was based on the satisfying services of DBCI as assessed by suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella, who had originally planned to extend the city government’s contract with the garbage hauler. Gasataya said the plan was “reasonable” since the city government could not hold any bidding as yet, pending the approval of the 2016 annual budget. Under the original contract, the DBCI will build another garbage cell at the sanitary landfill in Barangay Felisa. This was not implemented, however, after the Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance on the purchase of the property where the landfill was built, according to acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran. At present, DBCI’s function is only limited to garbage collection, hauling, and maintenance of the sanitary landfill./WDJ By Glazyl Jane Marie Y. Masculino The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod finally approved during its special session Wednesday the request of acting Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya for additional bonuses of regular and plantilla casual employees, and to extend the contract of services of Dynamic Builders and Construction Inc. for garbage collection for six months. Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said the city government is trying to hasten the release of the additional bonuses of the city hall employees before the year ends since there are only two remaining office days left before the New Year. The employees reportedly gathered before the session started on December 23 wearing black shirts to protest the delayed release of their additional bonuses. They will receive P15,000 each, compared to P30,000 last year when there were unfilled positions where the city could source additional funds. However, these unfilled positions were reportedly filled up just before Mayor Monico Puentevella was suspended, so the city has no available savings from which to get additional funds for the employees' additional bonuses, sources said. Familiaran said only Councilor Archie Baribar abstained and qualified his reason during the special session Wednesday. Baribar asked why was there a need for the employees to sign a waiver when there will be no disallowances, he said. Familiaran said they asked the Budget Officer if the city could give the employees more than P15,000, but were told that it is the maximum amount the city can provide. He said the release of the additional bonuses will depend on the preparation of the payrolls of each department. The city, through an approved appropriation ordinance, has allocated P26 million for the additional bonuses of 1,640 regular and plantilla casual employees, while P1 million will go to the terminal pay of employees who have resigned from City Hall. The City Hall employees will each receive P15,000 additional bonus apart from their 13th month pay and performance enhancement incentive from the city government. Meanwhile, the Dynamic Builders and Construction Inc. will continue their services after the SP recently approved the request of Gasataya for the six months extension of the city government's contract with the garbage hauler. The contract of the city with the DBCI, which was signed by suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella and accepted by the contractor, was supposed to end on December 31. But with the recent approval of its contract of service by the city council, its services will be extended until July 1, 2016. Gasataya said the plan was “reasonable”, since the city government could not yet hold any bidding pending the approval of the 2016 annual budget.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO BACOLOD City – Dynamic Builders and Construction Co., Inc. has been given six more months to collect the city’s garbage. The Sangguniang Panlungsod approved on Dec. 23 Acting Mayor Greg Gasataya’s request to extend the city government’s contract with the garbage hauler until July 1, 2016. The contract was supposed to end effective Dec. 31. Gasataya had said his request was based on suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella’s plan to extend Dynamic Builder’s contract. He said the plan was “reasonable” since the city government could not yet hold any bidding pending the approval of the 2016 annual budget. This time Dynamic Builders’ duties will be limited to garbage collection and hauling, and maintenance of the landfill in Barangay Felisa. Under the original contract, Dynamic Builders was supposed to build another garbage cell at the sanitary landfill. Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, however, said the project was not implemented after the Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance on the purchase of the property where the landfill was built. On Nov. 2, Puentevella wrote Dynamic Builders president Ricardo Yanson Jr., saying he was planning to extend Dynamic Builders’ contract to six months because he was satisfied with the company’s performance. On Nov. 6, Yanson replied, saying the company unconditionally agrees with the city government’s plan./PN By MAE SINGUAY A TOTAL of P26.1 million has been appropriated by the City Council of Bacolod for the additional bonus of regular and plantilla casual employees at P15,000 each, as well as for other obligations of the City Government. The appropriation ordinance, approved on Wednesday upon the request of Acting Mayor Greg Gasataya, also included payment for the terminal leave pay and the six-month extension of the contract of services of Dynamic Builders and Construction Co. Inc. for garbage collection. The Council unanimously approved the additional bonus after a lengthy deliberation, but with a colatilla, said Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran. Councilor Archie Baribar abstained during the voting as he questioned the legality of the additional bonus. Councilor Claudio Jesus Puentevella said he voted in favor of the additional bonus, with the condition that the employees who will avail of the bonus will sign a waiver since the extra bonus has no legal basis. In case the additional bonus is disallowed by the Commission of Audit and the Office of the President, Gasataya along with Acting City Administrator Goldwyn Nifras, Acting City Legal Officer Juvy Dioso, and the committee members of the Service and Merit Incentives for Local Employees (Smile) would be held responsible for the refund. Nifras said the P15,000 additional bonus may probably be availed by the employees before the New Year since both December 24 and 25 are holidays. Meanwhile, the City Council also approved the extension of the contract of the Dynamic Builders effective Jan. 2, 2016 to July 1,2016, but this is only limited to collection, hauling, and maintenance of the city landfill. Under the existing contract, the Dynamic Builders is tasked to construct the cell No. 2 of the sanitary landfill, however, this was not implemented due to the question of legality on the lot where the sanitary landfill is located, Familiaran said. By CARLA N. CANET BACOLOD City – Three days before Christmas, the budget for the additional bonus of city hall employees is still pending approval. Acting Mayor Greg Gasataya is pushing for an allocation of P26,158,000 in Personal Services, which will include the additional bonus. The Sangguniang Panlungsod is set to continue its deliberation on the proposed budget at 11 a.m. on its last session today. The city council also had a session yesterday but Councilor Archie Baribar said they were not able to tackle the proposed allocation and Gasataya’s request to extend the contract of Dynamic Builders. In case the proposed allocation is approved today, regular employees, plantilla casuals and executive assistants, including those appointed by suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella, will receive each additional bonus worth P15,000, said Gasataya. Under the proposed budget, P400,000 will be for “night pay,” P98,000 for special purpose appropriation that covers back salaries and wages, P1 million for terminal leave, and P24,660,000 for personnel benefits. The allocation will be sourced from the city government’s savings in general fund, according to a certification that City Budget Officer Victor Treyes and City Treasurer Giovanni Balalilhe released. Gasataya said the additional bonus that the city government will give its employees is the same incentive that the Negros Occidental provincial government and other local government units such as the cities of Bago, La Carlota and San Carlos are giving its workers. Councilor El Cid Familiaran said Treyes and Balalilhe will be called to appear in today’s session to clarify some matters on the proposed budget./PN By MAE SINGUAY The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod deferred action on the request of acting Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya to appropriate P26.1 million for the additional bonus of regular and plantilla casual employees and terminal pay, and to extend the contract of services with Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months. Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said the SP will hold a special session today after they failed to reach a common decision on the various requests of Gasataya. They decided to go on recess after a lengthy deliberation and will resume today to continue the discussion, he said. Familiaran said they have also invited the budget officer and city treasurer to the special session today to answer some queries of the councilors. Gasataya had said the P25 million will cover the additional bonuses of 1,640 regular and plantilla casual employees amounting to P15,000 each, while P1 million will go to the terminal pay of employees who have resigned. Councilor Caesar Distrito said they really want the additional benefits of the employees discussed, because there is a pressure of time considering that the last banking day is December 29. Everybody is expecting to have their Noche Buena on Christmas eve. So they are hoping that the members of Council will be sensitive to the plight of the employees who are expecting to receive something for Christmas, he said. Councilor Em Ang said she raised an appeal to the members of the SP that they should not delay the special session. Originally, the suggestion was for the special session to be held on the 28 th but she saw that there are only three banking days left. The last banking day will be on the 29th and knowing that there are processes to be followed, she felt that there will no enough time for the bonuses to be processed, she said. “I feel for the employees because they deserve this. This is due them because they have worked for this for one whole year so they deserve to receive this in order that they will have something on their table for Noche Buena,” Ang said Councilor Roberto Rojas said the SP should have called the finance group to the session yesterday if they needed some clarifications. He said he believes that the request of Gasataya is very valid. He hopes the SP will act on the request, he added. Councilor Claudio Puentevella said they want to study the matter and find out where the fund will be sourced and if all the employees will be benefited. As early as November the employees received their performance enhancement incentive bonus, he said. Gasataya said they have submitted all the required documents for the additional bonus. Only those who have worked for four consecutive months prior to October 31 can avail of the P15,000 bonus, he said. The fund will be sourced from savings from unfilled positions and other budgets that will not be used by the city, Gasataya said. This is the same incentive given by other local governments to their employees, he said. Gasataya said we looked for the funds but it is up to the SP whether they will allow it or not. They did everything to give additional incentives to the regular and casual employees, as well as executive assistants appointed by suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella, he said. Meanwhile, Gasataya said the request for an extension of the contract of services of Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months was signed by Puentevella and accepted by the contractor and he just endorsed it to the SP. He only received the contract several days ago, he said. Gasataya said the contract of Dynamic Builders will end on December 31. They cannot conduct a bidding because they have no approved budget for the contract, he said. He believes that the decision of Puentevella to extend the contract for six months is reasonable at this point in time, considering that they cannot hold a bidding because there is no annual budget for 2016 as this is still ending at the SP, Gasataya said. “Unless there is an annual budget then, probably, you can consider other options. But I have no other options but to concur in the request of Puentevella to extend the contract of Dynamic Builders,” he added.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO THE City Council of Bacolod is set to give its final decision today, December 23, on the request of Acting Mayor Greg Gasataya to grant additional bonus for its regular and plantilla casuals. The bonus amounts to P15,000 for each employee, for their exemplary performance based on the awards received by the City Government for the year 2015. But this matter has sparked lengthy deliberation, as other council members said they need time to study the details of Gasataya's request, which they only received on the day of the conduct of regular session. Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said the council will meet today for another round of session, as they have not yet reached a common decision on the various requests of the acting mayor. "We decided to go on recess and will resume today to continue the discussion," he said. Gasataya requested for P26,158,000 to be taken from various sources under the General Fund for the various needs of the City, with certifications from Acting City Budget Officer Victor Treyes and Acting City Treasurer Giovanni Balalilhe as to the availability of funds for appropriate action. This is the source of the proposed additional performance bonus wherein a resolution was endorsed by the committee members of the Service and Merit Incentives for Local Employees (Smile). Meanwhile, Gasataya also requested the council to approve the extension of contract of services of Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months covering the period January 2, 2016 to July 1, 2016. But all these and other matters were not acted upon Tuesday by the the council. Councilor Caesar Distrito said, "We requested for the continuation of the session today because we really want the salaries of the employees be discussed earlier considering that there is a pressure of time as the last banking day is on the 29th of December. Everybody is expecting that they will have their Noche Buena on Christmas Eve. We hope that members of council will be understandable on the plight of the employees." Councilor Em Ang said, "I raised an appeal to members of council that we do not delay the conduct of the special session. Originally, the suggested date for the special session is on December 28. But there are only three banking days left and knowing that there are processes to be followed, I feel like we don't have enough time to complete the process of the bonuses. I felt for the employees because they deserve to receive the bonus. On the Noche Buena, they should have something for their table." Councilor Roberto Rojas said the request of the acting mayor is very valid. The employees hoped to have their bonuses will be released with the favorable decision of the council. By CARLA N. CANET The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod deferred action on the request of acting Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya to appropriate P26.1 million for the additional bonus of regular and plantilla casual employees and terminal pay, and to extend the contract of services with Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months. Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said the SP will hold a special session today after they failed to reach a common decision on the various requests of Gasataya. They decided to go on recess after a lengthy deliberation and will resume today to continue the discussion, he said. Familiaran said they have also invited the budget officer and city treasurer to the special session today to answer some queries of the councilors. Gasataya had said the P25 million will cover the additional bonuses of 1,640 regular and plantilla casual employees amounting to P15,000 each, while P1 million will go to the terminal pay of employees who have resigned. Councilor Caesar Distrito said they really want the additional benefits of the employees discussed, because there is a pressure of time considering that the last banking day is December 29. Everybody is expecting to have their Noche Buena on Christmas eve. So they are hoping that the members of Council will be sensitive to the plight of the employees who are expecting to receive something for Christmas, he said. Councilor Em Ang said she raised an appeal to the members of the SP that they should not delay the special session. Originally, the suggestion was for the special session to be held on the 28 th but she saw that there are only three banking days left. The last banking day will be on the 29th and knowing that there are processes to be followed, she felt that there will no enough time for the bonuses to be processed, she said. “I feel for the employees because they deserve this. This is due them because they have worked for this for one whole year so they deserve to receive this in order that they will have something on their table for Noche Buena,” Ang said Councilor Roberto Rojas said the SP should have called the finance group to the session yesterday if they needed some clarifications. He said he believes that the request of Gasataya is very valid. He hopes the SP will act on the request, he added. Councilor Claudio Puentevella said they want to study the matter and find out where the fund will be sourced and if all the employees will be benefited. As early as November the employees received their performance enhancement incentive bonus, he said. Gasataya said they have submitted all the required documents for the additional bonus. Only those who have worked for four consecutive months prior to October 31 can avail of the P15,000 bonus, he said. The fund will be sourced from savings from unfilled positions and other budgets that will not be used by the city, Gasataya said. This is the same incentive given by other local governments to their employees, he said. Gasataya said we looked for the funds but it is up to the SP whether they will allow it or not. They did everything to give additional incentives to the regular and casual employees, as well as executive assistants appointed by suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella, he said. Meanwhile, Gasataya said the request for an extension of the contract of services of Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months was signed by Puentevella and accepted by the contractor and he just endorsed it to the SP. He only received the contract several days ago, he said. Gasataya said the contract of Dynamic Builders will end on December 31. They cannot conduct a bidding because they have no approved budget for the contract, he said. He believes that the decision of Puentevella to extend the contract for six months is reasonable at this point in time, considering that they cannot hold a bidding because there is no annual budget for 2016 as this is still ending at the SP, Gasataya said. “Unless there is an annual budget then, probably, you can consider other options. But I have no other options but to concur in the request of Puentevella to extend the contract of Dynamic Builders,” he added.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod deferred action on the request of acting Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya to appropriate P26.1 million for the additional bonus of regular and plantilla casual employees and terminal pay, and to extend the contract of services with Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months. Acting Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said the SP will hold a special session today after they failed to reach a common decision on the various requests of Gasataya. They decided to go on recess after a lengthy deliberation and will resume today to continue the discussion, he said. Familiaran said they have also invited the budget officer and city treasurer to the special session today to answer some queries of the councilors. Gasataya had said the P25 million will cover the additional bonuses of 1,640 regular and plantilla casual employees amounting to P15,000 each, while P1 million will go to the terminal pay of employees who have resigned. Councilor Caesar Distrito said they really want the additional benefits of the employees discussed, because there is a pressure of time considering that the last banking day is December 29. Everybody is expecting to have their Noche Buena on Christmas eve. So they are hoping that the members of Council will be sensitive to the plight of the employees who are expecting to receive something for Christmas, he said. Councilor Em Ang said she raised an appeal to the members of the SP that they should not delay the special session. Originally, the suggestion was for the special session to be held on the 28 th but she saw that there are only three banking days left. The last banking day will be on the 29th and knowing that there are processes to be followed, she felt that there will no enough time for the bonuses to be processed, she said. “I feel for the employees because they deserve this. This is due them because they have worked for this for one whole year so they deserve to receive this in order that they will have something on their table for Noche Buena,” Ang said Councilor Roberto Rojas said the SP should have called the finance group to the session yesterday if they needed some clarifications. He said he believes that the request of Gasataya is very valid. He hopes the SP will act on the request, he added. Councilor Claudio Puentevella said they want to study the matter and find out where the fund will be sourced and if all the employees will be benefited. As early as November the employees received their performance enhancement incentive bonus, he said. Gasataya said they have submitted all the required documents for the additional bonus. Only those who have worked for four consecutive months prior to October 31 can avail of the P15,000 bonus, he said. The fund will be sourced from savings from unfilled positions and other budgets that will not be used by the city, Gasataya said. This is the same incentive given by other local governments to their employees, he said. Gasataya said we looked for the funds but it is up to the SP whether they will allow it or not. They did everything to give additional incentives to the regular and casual employees, as well as executive assistants appointed by suspended Mayor Monico Puentevella, he said. Meanwhile, Gasataya said the request for an extension of the contract of services of Dynamic Builders for garbage collection for six months was signed by Puentevella and accepted by the contractor and he just endorsed it to the SP. He only received the contract several days ago, he said. Gasataya said the contract of Dynamic Builders will end on December 31. They cannot conduct a bidding because they have no approved budget for the contract, he said. He believes that the decision of Puentevella to extend the contract for six months is reasonable at this point in time, considering that they cannot hold a bidding because there is no annual budget for 2016 as this is still ending at the SP, Gasataya said. “Unless there is an annual budget then, probably, you can consider other options. But I have no other options but to concur in the request of Puentevella to extend the contract of Dynamic Builders,” he added.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO |
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