Allowable Communication Expenses of Certain Government Personnel
Naglabas ng bagong guidelines o Circular ang Department of Budget and Management (DBM) para sa allowable communication expenses ng piling government officials and employees.
Noong Agosto 2, 2024, nilagdaan ng Kalihim ng DBM ang Budget Circular No. 2024- 2 upang magbigay ng polisiya para sa awtorisadong halaga ng communication expenses ng piling kawani ng gobyerno gayundin kung saan ito pwedeng gamitin.
Ayun sa DBM, ang bawat opisina ng gobyerno ay magkakaiba ang polisiya dito. Gayundin, magkakaiba ang halaga na ibinibigay sa mga government personnel. Kaya naman nararapat na magtalaga ng malinaw at iisang polisiya para dito.
Ayun sa nasabing Circular:
The departments/agencies in the Executive Branch of the government have implemented differing approaches and modalities to efficiently provide this essential communication service, e.g., procurement via public bidding of institutional/enterprise postpaid accounts from a public telecommunication entity or provider, or on a “pay-first, reimburse-later” basis, and the like.
Furthermore, the departments/agencies have also adopted varying maximum reimbursable ceilings and/or rates in their respective policies/guidelines on communication expenses.
Hence,
The Circular is being issued to provide the guidelines on the payment of communication expenses incurred by authorized officials and employees for the performance of their official duties and responsibilities.
Ano ang Communication Expenses?
Ayun sa DBM, ang communication expenses ay tumutukoy sa sumusunod:
Communication expenses = costs incurred for the availment and use of mobile telecommunication services in aid of the performance of official duties and responsibilities, covering services generally available to the public, such as calls, text messages, internet connectivity/data, and roaming services for voice calls, data, and text messages for work-related matters, in the case of foreign travels.
Anong opisina ang pwedeng makakuha ng communication expenses?
Ang bagong polisiyang ito ng DBM ay para lamang sa government agencies sa ilalim ng Executive Branch.
Samantala, ang mga opisina ng gobyerno sa ilalim ng fiscal autonomy group, local government units (LGUs), at government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) (not covered by Republic Act (RA) No. 10149), pati na rin ang mga opisina ng military at uniformed personnel, ay maaari ding magbigay ng parehas na communication allowance, at hinihikayat na sundin o i-adopt ang nasabing bagong polisiya.
Allowable Communication Expenses of certain government officials and employees
Ang mga government officials na may salary grade (SG) na nasa ibaba ay pinapayagang mabayaran ang kanilang monthly communication expense ngunit hindi dapat lalagpas sa mga sumusunod na halaga:
SG 31 and other officials of equivalent rank — ₱8,000.00
SG 29 and 30 and other officials of equivalent rank — ₱5,000.00
SG 28 or Head of a Department Bureau, Department Regional Director, Head of a Department Service, and other officials of equivalent rank — ₱3,000.00
SG-27 and other officials of equivalent rank, including Head Executive Assistant — ₱2,500.00
SG-26 or Head of a Bureau Regional Office and other officials of equivalent rank — ₱2,500.00
SG-25 and other officials of equivalent rank — ₱2,000.00
SG 24 and other Department/Agency personnel of equivalent rank — ₱2,000.00
Maaari ding mabayaran ang communication expenses ng piling government personnel on the basis of a specific authorization by the head of department/agency; gayunpaman, hindi dapat ito lalagpas sa ₱1,500.00 kada buwan.
Paano babayaran ang communication expenses?
Ayun sa Circular, ang pagbayad sa communication expenses ng government officials and employees ay reimbursement basis at based sa number of days of actual work performance (AWP) on workdays in a month.
Kapag ang AWP ay 1 to 5 days, ang allowable reimbursable communication expenses ay 25% ng allowable communication expenses.
Kapag ang AWP ay 6 to 11 days, 50% ng allowable communication expenses ang pwedeng i-reimburse.
Kapag ang AWP ay 12 to 16 days, 75% ng allowable communication expenses ang pwedeng i-reimburse.
Kapag ang AWP ay mahigit 17 days, 100% ng allowable communication expenses ang pwedeng i-reimburse.
Halimbawa, kung ang government official ay isang Department Regional Director (SG 28) at ang kanyang actual work performance (AWP) sa isang buwan ay 5 days lamang, ang kanyang reimbursable communication expense (RCE) ay ₱750.00 (₱3,000.00 x 25%);
Kapag ang kanyang AWP ay 11 days ang kanyang RCE ay ₱1,500.00 (₱3,000 x 50%);
Kapag ang kanyang AWP ay 16 days, ang kanyang RCE ay ₱2,250 (₱3,000 x 75%);
At ₱3,000 (₱3,000 x 100%) ang kanyang RCE kung ang kanyang AWP ay 17 days o higit pa.
Ang pinapayagan at hindi pinapayagang actual work performance ay inilista din sa nasabing Circular at makikita ito sa Item Nos. 6.6 at 6.7.
Allowable Reimbursable Communication Expenses ng Officer in Charge (OIC)
Ang mga Officer-in-Charge na itinalaga sa mga positions na may reimbusable communication expenses ay maaari din makatanggap ng reimbursement sa kanilang communication expenses ayun sa Circular.
Gayunpaman, pinapahintulutan lamang ito kung ang unang buwan ng pagiging OIC ng opisyal ay 16 days o higit pa. Kung mas mababa dito, hindi pinapahintulutan ang reimbursement ng communication expenses.
Documentary Requirements para sa Allowable Reimbursement of Communication Expenses
Ibinigay din ng DBM ang documentary requirements para sa reimbursement ng communication expenses particularly sa Item 7.0 ng nasabing Circular.
Ang mga opisyal na nabanggit sa itaas ay kailangan magregister ng isa lamang na mobile number at ito ay considered na official number na kailangan isumite sa Administrative Service (or equivalent office/unit) for record and information purposes.
Bago bayaran o i-reimburse ang communication expenses ng isang opisyal o personnel, kailangan nitong magsumite ng self-certification na nagsasabing ang communication expenses ay opisyal at kailangan sa pagtupad ng kanyang tungkulin.
Nagbigay ang DBM ng Self-Certification Template para dito at makikita ito sa Annex A ng Circular.
Nagbigay din ang DBM ng iba pang karagdagang documentary requirements, in addition to the self-certification, depende sa nature ng official business ng empleyado o opisyal. Ito ay makikita din sa Item 7.0 ng Circular.
Para sa karagdagang detalye sa government employee benefit na ito, i-download at basahin ang Budget Circular No. 2024-2 sa link na ito.
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