Murcia barangay captain Clemente Dela Peña has received his 2009 Productivity Enhancement Incentive of P20,000, that had been held in abeyance by the municipal government on orders of Mayor Esteban Coscolluela.

Clemente, an ex-oficio member of the Sangguniang Bayan representing the Barangay Councils, said he received his bonus only after his counsel, Rayfrando Diaz, sent a final demand letter to Coscolluela and municipal treasurer Inocentes Conte asking them to release the amount.

In the final demand, Diaz said that the continued refusal to pay the 2009 incentive of Dela Peña constituted grave abuse of discretion, oppression, and grave misconduct.

He said Dela Peña had received the same incentive in 2008 and, as a matter of right, he should have been granted a similar bonus in 2009.

In his Dec. 22, 2009 memorandum to Conte, municipal accountant Arlene Espiso, and budget officer Romeo Villarosa, Coscolluela said some technical validity need to be resolved before granting the bonus to Clemente.

The mayor also ordered Conte, Espiso and Villarosa to ask Clemente to provide them with circulars from the departments of Budget and Management, Interior and Local Government, and the Civil Service Commission that would show that it is mandatory for the LGU to give bonuses to the ABC president.

In the demand letter, however, Diaz said the withholding of his client’s bonus had deprived him of the benefits due him and it is discriminatory and oppressive.

Diaz also said there is no factual and legal basis to refuse payment to the ABC president since Sangguniang Kabataan representative Melissa Cayetano, also an ex-oficio member of the municipal council, had received her incentive along with the other town councilors.*NAB

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