PAGASA employees to get benefits – Budget chief

MANILA, Philippines – Employees of the state weather bureau PAGASA will receive benefits due them for the first half of the year, the Department of Budget and Management said Wednesday, August 15.

“As instructed by the President, the DBM will provide the necessary budget support to cover all allowances for PAGASA employees in the first half of 2012,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad was quoted in a statement.

Under Republic Act No. 8439, or the Magna Carta for Scientists, Engineers, Researchers and other Science & Technology Personnel in Government, PAGASA employees are entitled to the following benefits:

• Daily subsistence allowance, P150.00
• Monthly laundry allowance, P500.0
• Longevity pay, 5% of employee’s monthly basic pay for every 5 years of service
• Hazard Pay, 15% of basic monthly pay

However, the DBM said they will “strictly enforce” rules on the Magna Carta for the second semester of the year, especially regarding hazard and longevity pay.

Abad said the bureau is frequently violating the provisions of the Magna Carta, saying the state weather agency gives hazard allowances to all employees regardless of nature of work.

“PAGASA currently provides hazard allowances for its employees across the board—whether or not they are exposed to risks in the course of their duties—in clear violation of the law and their own guidelines,” he said.

“We need to confirm which employees, by the nature of their work, are entitled to hazard pay, as well as when they’re supposed to receive this,” he added.

Abad also reiterated that the benefits will now be part of the 2013 General Appropriations Act, as a separate item. Before, the benefits were sourced from a lump sum fund in the National Budget, and from an agency’s year-end savings.

He also said the changes will benefit not just the weather bureau, but the entire Department of Science and Technology and its 18 other attached agencies.

On Tuesday, August 14, the bureau’s employees staged a lunchtime protest over the unpaid benefits, prompting a visit by President Aquino himself. – Rappler.com