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John Unson - Philstar.com
December 9, 2025 | 7:38pm
The seat of the Lamitan City local government in Basilan, one of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro region.
Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The local government unit of Lamitan City has allocated P55,000 worth of Yuletide Season bonus for each of the more than 500 employees in its different divisions, something extraordinary in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Officials of different BARMM ministries and members of the region’s 80-seat parliament told reporters in Cotabato City on Tuesday, December 9, that the office of Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay has started releasing the bonuses to employees of their local government unit.
The P55,000 Yuletide Season bonus the Lamitan City LGU shall release to employees includes Service Recognition Incentive, Productivity Enhancement Incentive and other cash incentives from its coffer, as permitted by the city's finance and budget officials and the Commission on Audit.
Furigay, now in his second term as mayor, first announced last week their LGU’s allocation of a P55,000 Yuletide Season bonus for all of its employees.
Two BARMM parliament members, the physician-ophthalmologist Kadil Sinolinding Jr., who is also functioning as regional health minister, and the lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, and their chief minister, Abdulrauf Macacua, separately said on Tuesday that they are optimistic that other LGUs in the autonomous region would emulate such an initiative by the Lamitan City mayor’s office.
“I’m happy about it because among the recipients of the big bonus packages are employees of the City Health Office in Lamitan City,” said Sinolinding, who is overseeing the regionwide operation of the Ministry of Health-BARMM.
Sinarimbo, who had served as BARMM’s local government minister prior to his appointment as parliament member last March 2025 by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., said the big bonuses for the Lamitan City LGU employees will boost their morale and dedication to work.
“In effect, it will encourage them to work harder in serving the Muslim and Christian communities in all of the more than 40 barangays under their jurisdiction,” Sinarimbo said.
The Lamitan City LGU had received six Seal of Good Local Governance citations, in the past seven years, from the central office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in recognition of its efficient community service programs, environmental-protection and peace and security initiatives.
The grant of SGLG to deserving municipal, city and provincial governments in all regions in the country is a yearly activity of the DILG’s central Office.
