30,000 ARMM employees to receive performance-based bonus

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Aug. 19 (PIA) --- More than 30,000 employees in the regional government are entitled to receive the bonus that mirrors the “upgrading of professionalism and delivery of services” in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“This is the first time in the 25-year history of the ARMM. Isa itong malaking karangalan at malaking accomplishment. More than the incentives kailangan mapanatili ng bawat ahensiya, ng bawat empleyado ang ganung klaseng level ng professionalism at klase ng level ng performance (This is a big honor and a major accomplishment. More than the incentives, every agency, every employee must maintain that kind of level of professionalism and that kind of level of performance),” said ARMM Executive Secretary Lawyer Laisa Alamia.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has affirmed Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s compliance with the requirements of the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB), a system that rewards “exemplary performance in government.”

The regional government passed the Good Governance Conditions and the performance indicators in all its target deliverables for 2014 which qualified the region for the bonus.

“Proud ako dahil na-acknowledge ang performance ko at part ako ng reporma (I’m proud because my performance was acknowledged and that I’m part of the reform),” said Maritess Galindo, 56, an administrative officer at the Office of the Regional Governor.

Galindo has been working in the ARMM since its inception in 1990.

“What ARMM should be proud of is its accomplishments. It’s an independent verification that the reforms in the autonomous region were achieved and that these reforms improve peoples’ access to services,” said Maricris Valte of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).

The DAP serves as the secretariat and technical resource institution of the Administrative Order 25 Inter-Agency Task Force that oversees the performance monitoring, evaluation, information and reporting of essential components of performance management system of a government office, department, or instrumentality.

“(The performance-based bonus) is meant not just compliance with the requirements, but is also meant to encourage and ensure that the agency accomplishes what it has pledged to accomplish,” Valte affirmed.

The fact that ARMM met all the Good Governance Condition according to Valte, "is proof that the governance reform under the leadership of ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman is really working."

Budget Undersecretary Richard Moya, in a letter, said "more than grant of the bonus, we hope that the PBB has significantly contributed to your agency’s organizational and the employee performance that led to concrete and visible improvements in the delivery of goods and services to the public."

The PBB system is a merit-based incentive program that recognizes and rewards exemplary public service. Employees’ performance is assessed, including how they contributed to the accomplishment of their department’s overall targets and commitments.

Under the system, an employee may receive P5,000 minimum to as much as P35,000. Employees are rated whether they performed ‘good,’ ‘better,’ or ‘best.’

To qualify, the agencies must pass certain requirements to include the achievement of at least 90 percent of their 2014 targets, compliance with the Transparency Seal under the General Provisions of the 2014 General Appropriations Act, and compliance in posting, or publication, of the Citizen’s Charter – all required under the Good Governance Conditions.

“The budget for the bonus will be downloaded from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the regional government this year after completion of the process,” said Alamia.

Through Administrative Order No. 25, the Office of the President created the Inter-Agency Task Force that will harmonize, unify, streamline and simplify all existing monitoring and reporting requirements related to the government’s performance-based bonus system.

The Inter-Agency Task Force is chaired by the DBM and co-chaired by the Office of the Executive Secretary, with the National Economic and Development Authority; Presidential Management Staff; and Department of Finance as members. (Bureau of Public Information/PIA-10)