ANAKALUSUGAN party-list Rep. Mike Defensor on Monday urged the government agencies to advance the release of their personnel’s mid-year bonus a day early on Friday, May 14.

“The early release of their incentive will be a big help to our more than one million workforce in the bureaucracy amid the pandemic, especially our healthcare and other front-liner workers,” Defensor said.

Defensor said under Republic Act (RA) No. 11466 passed by Congress, state personnel, from the President down to the lowest-paid janitor or clerk, are entitled to a mid-year incentive equivalent to one-month salary, to be “given not earlier than May 15 of every year.”

“And since May 15 this year falls on a Saturday, I am appealing to our agencies to advance the payment of the bonus on Friday,” Defensor said.

Defensor added that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) should have already released the funds needed for the incentive.

He pointed out that under the law, personnel who have rendered service for at least four months as of May 15 are entitled to the mid-year bonus, ranging from P12,034 for the lowest-paid employee to P415,728 for the President.

Defensor stressed that government nurses should be getting a bigger amount of incentive and monthly salary if the DBM had not demoted them in Budget Circular No. 2020-4.

The circular implements the ruling of the Supreme Court that nurses in public hospitals are entitled to Salary Grade 15 entry-level pay (P33,575), as the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 provides, instead of the P21,000 Salary Grade 11 compensation they had been receiving.

“Our nurses waited for almost 20 years to receive the minimum salary they are entitled to under the law. But the DBM has undermined the Supreme Court ruling and the law by demoting our senior nurses,” Defensor said.

He said under the DBM circular, Nurse II positions were “modified” to Nurse I, Nurse III to Nurse II, Nurse IV to Nurse III, Nurse V to Nurse IV, Nurse VI to Nurse V, and Nurse VII to Nurse VI, although the issuance provides that nurses would maintain their salary levels.

“The DBM was right in complying with the SC ruling and the law by fixing the minimum pay for our nurses at Salary Grade 15 (Nurse I). But it should have adjusted the pay levels of senior nurses a grade higher instead of demoting them to avoid paying higher salaries,” he said.

He stressed that the DBM circular “is most unfair to Nurse II position holders because they were already receiving Salary Grade 15 pay, which should have been upgraded to at least Salary Grade 16, or P36,628 from P33,575, or an increase of P3.053.”

He added that personnel holding Nurse II positions, who have a job experience of at least three years, were lumped with new recruits at Nurse I and Salary Grade 15.