Diokno wants review of PBB program

FILE: In a briefing Wednesday, DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he would order the review of the whole PBB program.(PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is considering a re-study of the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) program to ensure a more efficient disbursement of bonuses.

In a briefing Wednesday, DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he would order the review of the whole PBB program.

“This is meant to hasten the release (of funds) rather than control it,” he said.

The Budget and Management chief explained that issues on the release of PBB funds affect primarily the big departments like the Department of Education (DepEd) due to the number of its employees.

Thus, changes on the fund disbursements, among others would be made, he said.

“We want it to be really based on performance.

We are trying to develop a system for it to be more decentralized,” he said.

Diokno said they were considering a more decentralized fund disbursement system wherein each department would be given a fund based on the statistics they submitted and it would be upon the officials of these department on which bureau would be given a bonus.

In the case of DepEd, the DBM chief its officials has to prioritize and properly determine who will be given bonuses and how much will be given to the employees.

“So that requires a lot of prioritization. I guess it’s also part of the transition,” he added.

It said “DepEd was declared eligible” for the PBB grant for 2016 but excluded some units such as the highest ranking official from the 25 Schools Division Offices (SDOs) and the units that have low utilization rate that, in turn, affected the general administration and support services target.

In the case of the Department of Health (DOH), the statement explained that “while the DOH is eligible for the grant of the FY 2016 PBB, the DOH units that are non-compliant with PhilGEPS, as well as those responsible for the delays in the procurement and failed biddings and delays in the submission of the BFARs (Budget and Financial Accountability Reports) to the DBM will not be included in the grant of the FY 2016 PBB.” (PNA)