Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Wednesday, June 16, said that the Department of Education (DepEd) is “working closely” with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fast-track the release of the 2019 Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) for all teaching and eligible non-teaching personnel.
Briones said that DepEd anticipates the release of the PBB funds for all teaching and the majority of non-teaching employees “within the next two months” - subject to the final approval of the DBM.
DepEd announced this after the AO25 Secretariat of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information and Reporting System sent the final validation letter to DepEd on May 31, 2021.
“Even before the pandemic, we have constantly communicated with the DBM and AO25 IATF to ensure that our teachers and personnel will receive benefits and allowances due to them,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said. “They have been working tirelessly in delivering quality education and service amidst the challenges of the pandemic,” she added.
DepEd noted that as of June 15, the DBM Organization, Position Classification. and Compensation Bureau (OPCCB) “have already transmitted” the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 PBB of the elementary and secondary schools of 12 Regional Offices including Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), National Capital Region (NCR), Regions I, III, IV-A, V, VI, IX, X, XI, XII, and CARAGA of DepEd to DBM Regional Offices (ROs) concerned for the “processing and issuance” of the corresponding Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) of the PBB.
Additionally, DepEd said that Region IV - B, VII, and VIII are “currently being reviewed by DBM - Central Office (CO) while Region II was already validated by DBM-CO and will be transmitted to DBM - RO for the release of the SARO.
Meanwhile, DepEd thanked the AO25 IATF for recognizing the the agency’s efforts in “pushing for concrete and visible reforms to better serve our Filipino learners and stakeholders.” Briones said that the department will continue to work with DBM in “endorsing, processing, and eventually, releasing the PBB funds as part of our outstretched assistance to all DepEd employees.”
PBB is an 'incentive'
The PBB, DepEd said, is an “incentive given to government employees in accordance with their performance and contribution to the accomplishment of their agency’s overall targets and commitments.” “For 2018 to 2020, the Results-Based Performance Management System (RBMPS) set the criteria for PBB based on the results that matter to various stakeholders,” DepEd said.
“Specifically, the 2019 PBB highlighted the need for streamlining and process improvement of the agency’s critical services and its client feedback and satisfaction survey,” it added.
Briones said that DepEd has undertaken measures such as institutionalizing its national quality management system across all its governance levels, adhering to governance standards, improving efficiencies to allow seamless public service delivery, and improving the agency’s and individuals’ overall performance and productivity to ensure compliance.
These measures were recognized by the AO25 IATF - noting that the DepEd “was able to comply with 13 of the 15 good governance indicators.”
DepEd said that while the IATF granted the release of the 2019 PBB for all teaching and the majority of non-teaching employees, “some DepEd personnel were isolated and deemed ineligible for the grant of the annual bonus” due to non-compliance with some indicators.
Briones noted that the DepEd Central Office is “now finalizing the performance ranking reports” for schools division offices (SDOs), ROs, and COs before submitting the same to DBM and AO25 Secretariat.
“Nevertheless, the teaching and non-teaching personnel shall receive the PBB upon arrival receipt of the downloaded budget and the completion of pertinent documents,” Briones said.
Shared responsibility
Meanwhile, Briones stressed that achieving PBB requirements is a “commitment and shared responsibility of all concerned offices” across the DepEd Central, Regional, Schools Division Levels Offices, and Schools.
“In the coming years, let's work together in order to comply with all the indicators and aim for 100 percent eligibility to provide quality basic education services for all,” Briones added.