THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers denounced the delayed release of the performance-based bonus of the employees of the Department of Education which was also slashed.

The ACT made the statement after the government task force on the PBB decided last week to grant the lowest amount of bonus to the DepEd employees for the year 2021.

“Sa sampung taon na ipinatutupad ang PBB, ang pagtanggap nito ay pahirap nang pahirap, patagal nang patagal, at ang halaga ay pababa nang pababa. Instead of being a system to grant incentives, it has become a mechanism to deprive us of fair and meaningful benefits,” Vladimer Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

“When PBB started in 2012, best performing employees, regardless of designation, can receive up to P35,000. In 2016 the PBB received by rank-and-file employees drastically dropped as PBB rates were pegged on salaries, with best performers only receiving up to 65 percent equivalent of their basic monthly pay. In 2021, four more categories were created, which decreased the lowest PBB from 50 percent of salaries to 45.5 percent. Ang tunay na kahulugan pala ng PBB ay PaBaBa,” Quetua added.

“Patagal rin nang patagal ang pagbibigay ng PBB sa mga guro at kawani ng DepEd. Now, we wait for more than two years before we receive the PBB. After the PBB Task Force announced the eligibility of the DepEd for PBB 2021 last week, surely we would still need to wait a few more months before we receive the benefit as documents still need to be submitted and tedious processes need to be accomplished before the funds are released,” Quetua said.

The group added that the PBB system discriminates low-salaried employees and favors high-ranking officials.

“Most disadvantaged here are those who were rated as ineligible based on the government’s dehumanizing metrics that treat our employees as robots. We say, the PBB system should be abandoned as it has failed to incentivize outstanding public service, and further failed to encourage productivity and better performance among the government employees,” Quetua said.

ACT said that the government should instead establish a benefits package that will augment the employees’ low salaries especially now that the prices of basic commodities have increased.