The Social Welfare Employee’s Association of the Philippines (SWEAP), the association of rank and file employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), recently staged protests urging the DSWD to raise the employees’ cash incentive known as the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) from P30,000 to P50,000.

“I would like to assure all DSWD personnel that they will receive their 2012 CNA incentive,”  Secretary Soliman said.  However, Secretary Soliman explained that, as stipulated in Budget Circular No. 2006-1 and Budget Circular 2011-5 issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the CNA incentive shall be given after the end of the fiscal year. “The DBM circulars also state that the amount of CNA incentive is dependent on the yearly savings generated by the Department, thus it cannot be pre-determined,” Secretary Soliman added.

Likewise, Secretary Soliman added that a general assembly will be held today, October 16, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in the DSWD Central Office to reach out to all DSWD employees and clarify issues concerning the CNA Incentive. ###