AN ally of President Benigno Aquino III on Saturday blamed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the delay in release of benefit which resulted to flight of forecasters from Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration out of Philippine area of responsibility.
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said that at the rate weather forecaster are leaving the Philippine area of responsibility; the country may end up with no one alarming us that a typhoon is coming.
“If the problem is in the delay of the release of the benefits of PAGASA people, then I am confident that the DBM, being the main preacher of the gospel against red tape, will resolve it soonest,” he said.
It was learned that PAGASA lost another seasoned weather forecaster, Ricky Fabregas, who had reportedly accepted a P100,000 a month job in Congo.
Recto said that based on the 2013 budget, the money for Hazard Pay and the Magna Carta for Science and Technology, or RA 8439, the two allowances PAGASA personnel claim they are entitled to receive, is there.
For Hazard Pay, the bureaucracy-wide budget this year is P51.8 million while that for RA 8439 benefits is P183.7 million. This excludes hazard pay for the military and uniformed personnel.
For next year, the total allocation for Hazard Pay will increase to P832 million, and the Magna Carta for Science and Technology benefits to P224.6 million.
But the good news, he said is that four new “hazard and hardship” allowances for civilian employees have been created in the 2014 budget.
These are: “Hazard Duty Pay” (P1.3 billion), “High Risk Duty Pay” (P893,000), “Hazardous Duty Pay” (P586 million), “Special Hardship Allowance” (P1.17 billion).
Thus, he hoped that the perennial compensation issues confronted by personnel in PAGASA and similar agencies will be solved by the new allocations in 2014.
Recto said that talent has the right to follow where the money is. “Talented people have the right to happiness.”
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