Contractual employees assigned to the 16 hospitals of the provincial government can expect to receive their salaries on time starting in July, following the allocation of a supplemental budget for the purpose.
Palawan information chief Atty. Christian Jay Cojamco said the Local Finance Committee (LFC) has already allotted an amount of P110 million from the provincial government’s Supplemental Budget No. 2 for the salaries of hospital staff.
He explained that unlike before, when the supplemental budget for hospital staff was released in November, this time the funds will be released earlier.
“Previously, the funds were accumulated, and then in November, there was a supplemental budget for employees covering the period from July to December. This means that the process of signing contracts, creating accomplishment reports, and processing salaries would start in November,” Cojamco told Palawan News in an interview.
“But this year, we have allocated the funds right away so that by July, their contracts will be complete, and they will receive monthly salaries. Although the P110 million is still lacking P5 million to renew the contracts of those hired from January to June for July to December,” he added.
Cojamco also mentioned that aside from the salary funds, they will allocate an additional P27 million to increase the salaries of contractual nurses and doctors.
“We need an additional P27 million on top of the P125 million. Actually, we still need P32 million,” he said, noting that the LFC will meet by Friday or early next week to discuss where they can source the additional budget allocation.
“So some employees can expect an increase in their salaries from July to December,” he added.
In addition, Cojamco stated that the purchase request for medical supplies for the hospitals is already being processed.
“The bidding process has been completed, and the medicines included in their annual procurement plan are ready for delivery,” he said.
“We will be bidding out the supplemental items that were not included in the regular fund,” he added.
Furthermore, he mentioned that repairs in some of the hospitals are ongoing, particularly those affected by Typhoon Odette.
“At present, there are ongoing repairs, while some have already been completed,” he said.
