DBM releases ₱11.6B for DepEd teachers’ 2021 bonus

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 14) — More than 900,000 public school teachers can expect to receive their performance-based bonus from 2021 as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) already released ₱11.6 billion to cover the delayed incentive.

A total of 920,073 personnel in various public elementary and secondary schools would benefit from this budget release, the DBM said in a statement on Thursday.

As of Sep. 1, it said that all 16 regional offices already released the corresponding Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) and Notice of Cash Allocations (NCAs) to the DepEd for 2021 bonuses.

The DBM said the DepEd submitted the updated documents just in April to August of this year.

“This could be attributed to the strikingly high number of eligible personnel at around 900,000 employees in the DepEd, and the voluminous documents being submitted for the purpose,” the DBM said.

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said in July that the department needed to do “reconciliation” to ensure that those who would receive the bonuses were employed in 2021.

Meanwhile, the DBM said it returned the documentary requirements for 2021 bonuses of non-teaching personnel in eight regions for DepEd’s “revalidation/revision.”

“The documents were sent back due to varying concerns, such as duplicate entries, incorrect information on the months of service, and certain personnel not found in the DepEd’s Personnel Services Itemization and Plantilla of Personnel, among others,” it said.