We have always affirmed the truism that the best resource an organization-or a nation for that matter-has is its people, its human resource. And it is in view of this that we laud the Albay Provincial Government headed by Gov. Joey Salceda for the reported granting of a "14th month pay" as well as a P15,000 cash gift to the employees of the said provincial government. What is equally significant about this decision of the Albay Provincial Government is that the funds to be used for this "well-deserved reward" of the provincial capitol's employees are coming from savings of an LGU that was aggressive in effecting its social programs.
News reports have, in fact, underscored this particular detail: that the P42 million allocated for these cash bonuses were from the savings of the provincial government that had mainly directed itself towards social programs such as "scholarships, PhilHealth vouchers, livelihood and capacity build-up for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation." One would expect that given these, savings would be hard to come by; and yet, the Albay LGU was able to do so. More admirably, the said savings are now set to be given back to people who are in need of them because of the calamities that have recently afflicted the province.
As this develops, one cannot help but turn one's gaze to another provincial government in Bikol which has truly been aggressive in promoting tourism, that of Camarines Sur which is led by Governor LRay Villafuerte. Camarines Sur has been hosting several international events that had brought numerous tourists to the province. In fact, the boast is that the province is the "Number 1" tourist destination in the country.
Alas, while this boast may be true, the official report is that the province's debt was around P 800 million. One can surmise that inquiring about the provincial government's savings is out of the question. Similarly, any cash bonuses that are to be given to the Camarines Sur provincial capitol's employees-if there are any--would have to be sourced elsewhere.
In retrospect, while one province has savings from which it can distribute financial assistance to its employees, another has debt and a boast to its credit.