ILOILO CITY, Dec. 19 -- The Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council) approved on Friday Supplemental Budget No. 5 worth over PHP119.94 million, of which PHP98 million was allocated for the Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) and gratuity pay of qualified city hall employees.

"For our SRI, we have allocated PHP44.94 million, and for our gratuity, we allocated PHP53.2 million," City Budget Officer Viminale Capulso said in an interview.

Based on their data, Capulso said 2,257 permanent employees are entitled to receive the PHP20,000 SRI subject to tax, while the gratuity will depend on the number of qualified job orders (JOs) and the contract of service.

To receive the full gratuity amount, JOs and contract of service holders should have ren...