Earlier today, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo welcomed Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s formal signing of the Administrative Order (AO) No. 02 which entitles all non-regular government employees a year-end grant worth P2,000 for their dedicated service to the Filipino people.

The AO was signed by the President last January 31, 2017 as recognition of the contribution and efforts of job orders (JO), contracts of service (COS), project-based (PB), and memorandum of agreement (MOA) workers in all national government agencies (NGAs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or –controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) who have rendered less than four months of satisfactory service as of December 15, 2016.

Section 1 of the AO states that “All workers whose services are engaged through JO and COS and who have rendered a total or an aggregate of at least four (4) months of satisfactory services as of December 15, 2016 and whose contracts are still effective as of same date, may be granted a one-time Gratuity Pay not exceeding Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000) each.

Sec. 2 states that “Those who have rendered less than four (4) months of satisfactory service as of December 15, 2016 and with effective contracts as of the same date may also be granted the one-time Gratuity Pay, but not exceeding One Thousand Pesos (P1,000 each).

Sec. 3 states that the order “…Shall cover workers whose services are engaged through JO, COS, or other similar schemes by national government agencies (NGAs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs).

Section 6 states that “LGUS are encouraged to adopt in their respective offices the grant of Gratuity Pay to workers whose services are engaged through JO and COS, utilizing appropriate and available funding services.

“Contractual workers comprise most of the DSWD’s workforce as well as the workforce of most other government agencies. We should support them as much as we can by way of improving their job status and benefits whenever we can given what resources and means we have. This P2,000 gratuity pay is the result of the collective efforts of contractual employees to push for better benefits and to call attention to their situation. They deserve this and more given their unparalleled dedication and service to our department, our partner-beneficiaries, and to our country,” said Sec. Judy M. Taguiwalo.

“We are also grateful to the support given by our Pres. Duterte. Without his support, the release of this gratuity pay would not have been possible.” #