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[ MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 60, February 23, 2022 ]

AMENDING MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 46 (s. 2020) "ADOPTING THE PROGRAM ON AWARDS AND INCENTIVES FOR SERVICE EXCELLENCE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT PROPER

1. General

The OP-PRAISE is designed to encourage creativity, innovativeness, efficiency, integrity and productivity, by recognizing and rewarding employees, individually and in groups, for their suggestions, innovative ideas, inventions, discoveries, superior accomplishments, competencies, heroic deeds, exemplary behavior, extraordinary acts or services in the public interest.

2. Specific

2.1 To establish a mechanism for identifying, selecting and rewarding/providing incentives to deserving human resources;

2.2 To identify outstanding accomplishments and best practices of human resources on a continuing basis;

2.3 To provide incentives and interventions to motivate human resources who have contributed ideas, suggestions, inventions, discoveries, superior accomplishments and other personal efforts;

2.4 To acknowledge and provide awards and incentives to human resources who display exemplary behavior; and

2.5 To instill the drive for excellence among OP human resources by improving their competencies and encouraging them to pursue their own career development.

The OP-PRAISE shall apply to all appointive OP Proper human resources.

In the provision of incentives and awards, this Program shall not discriminate against civil status, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion and/or indigenous group membership.

1. AWARD - recognition which may be monetary or non-monetary conferred on individuals or group of individuals for ideas, suggestions, inventions, discoveries, superior accomplishments, exemplary behavior, heroic deeds, extraordinary acts or services in the public interest that contribute to the efficiency, economy, and improvement in government operations, and to organizational productivity.

2. INCENTIVE - monetary or non-monetary motivation, privilege or reward given to a human resources or group of human resources for laudable/extraordinary performance or service, pursuance of career development, or long and dedicated service in government.

3. CONTRIBUTION - any input which can be in the form of an idea or performance.

4. DISCOVERY - is the uncovering of something previously existing but found or learned of for the first time, which will improve public service delivery.

5. IDEA TYPE CONTRIBUTION - refers to an idea, a suggestion or an invention or discovery for improvement to effect economy in operation, to increase production and improve working conditions.

6. INVENTION - the creation of something previously non-existent which will benefit government.

7. SUGGESTION - idea or proposal which improves work performance, systems and procedures and economy in operations that will benefit the government.

8. GROUP - shall refer to two or more individuals bound by common objective, a task force, a technical working group or a special working team, formed/created/organized formally or informally to undertake certain projects/programs.

9. COMPETENCY - refers to observable, measurable and vital behavioral skills, knowledge, and personal attributes deemed essential for organizational success.

10. HEROIC DEED - refers to the prompt and immediate courageous and selfless action that involves risking one's life or safety for the common good and/or that would benefit others.

11. CONTINUOUS SERVICE - for purposes of the grant of OP-PRAISE awards and incentives, refers to non-incurrence of leave without pay, for reasons other than illness, of not more than five (5) days per year.

12. ONBOARDING - refers to the process of integrating and acculturating newly hired employees, as indicated in the OP Onboarding Program, into the organization and providing them with the tools, resources and knowledge to become successful and productive OP Proper human resources. This process is done within six (6) months upon assumption to duty.

A. Honor Awards

OP Shall regularly undertake a search for deserving employees, for the purpose of granting awards administered by OP, and for nominating them for awards given by other government agencies, private entities, non-government organizations (NGOs) and other award giving bodies, such as the:

1. Presidential Lingko Bayan Award - conferred to an individual or group of individuals comprised of five members for exceptional or extraordinary contributions resulting from an idea or performance that had nationwide impact in public interest, security and patrimony. The contribution may be a suggestion, innovation, invention or superior accomplishment.

2. Civil Service Commission Pagasa Award - conferred to an individual or group of individuals comprised of five members for outstanding contribution/s resulting from an idea or performance that directly benefit more than one department of the government which resulted in the successful achievement of its goal or has greatly improved public service delivery, economy in operation, improved working conditions or otherwise benefited the government in many other ways.

For group nominations, the group/team should have demonstrated teamwork, cooperation, camaraderie and cohesiveness. Each group/team member should have verifiable/actual condition in the attainment of the group's/team's accomplishment. This should be specified in the nomination.

3. Outstanding Public Officials and Employees or "Dangal ng Bayan" Award - conferred to an individual for performance of an extraordinary act or public service and consistent demonstration of exemplary ethical behavior on the basis of his or her observance of one or more of the eight (8) norms of behavior described under Republic Act (RA) No. 6713, otherwise known as the "Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Officials and Employees". The application of this type of award in OP Shall be operationalized under its Exemplary Behavior Award as detailed in B.2 of this MO.

4. Other Awards - given by other govenrment agencies, private institutions or NGOs to an individual or team for contributions of an idea or performance that directly benefited the government.

The OP-PRAISE Committee shall choose from among those nominated by the heads of offices as officially submitted to the Committee up to the month of February, for qualifications that had been met during the immediately preceding year. Nominations by the heads of offices shall include the following:

* Name and position of nominee;
* Nominated for what type of award; and
* Reason for nomination.

Nomination must meet the following qualifications, and such other qualifications/requirements as may be provided by CSC covering the period of nominations:

* Have rendered at least three (3) years of continuous government service as the deadline of submission of nominations;
* Have a performance rating of at least Very Satisfactory or its equivalent for six (6) semestral, or three (3) annual rating periods prior to the nominations; and
* Have not been found guilty of any administrative or criminal offense involving moral turpitude or do not have nay pending case against them at the time of nomination.

B. OP Proper Awards

The OP-PRAISE shall develop and initiate recognition of individuals or group of individuals for ideas, suggestions, inventions, discoveries, superior accomplishments, exemplary behavior, heroic deeds and other extraordinary acts or services that contribute to the efficiency, economy, and improvement in government operations, and to organizational productivity:

1. Idea Type Contribution Award (ITCA) - granted to a human resource who has contributed an idea, suggestion, or invention, which generated economic improvement in operation, increased productivity, improved working conditions or service, or otherwise benefited OP.

a. Qualifications - Must have rendered service for at least one (1) calendar year in OP, with a very satisfactory rating for the last two (2) regular rating periods

b. Criteria

i. Impact of Achievement (40%)
- the extent to which the idea has increased productivity and improved systems and procedures; the paradigm shift it has caused; and the number of persons that benefited from it;

ii. Reliability and Effectiveness (20%)
- the extent to which the bright idea has effectively and efficiently addressed a pressing need and improved service delivery;

iii. Economy in Operations (20%)
- the extent to which minimum amount of resource (people, time, etc.) have been used to achieve the resultant output; and

iv. Relevance (20%)
- Addresses the improvement of working conditions or services beneficial to OP

c. Documents Required - a nomination letter with details on the idea type contributed, addressed to the OP-PRAISE Committee, and/or Re-Entry Action Plan or Recommendations in the After Activity Report/Learning Application Plan that have been implemented, if applicable

d. Form of Award - a plaque of recognition and a cash award to be determined by the OP-PRAISE Committee will be given during the OP Anniversary, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

2. Exemplary Behavior Award (EBA) in the form of a plaque or a Certificate of Recognition and/or Cash Award as may be determined by the OP PRAISE Committee, will be granted to a human resource who has exemplary demonstrated any one of the eight (8) norms of conduct as provided under RA No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards). The awardee shall be automatically nominated by the Executive Secretary to the Dangal ng Bayan Award.

a. Qualifications, criteria, and documents required for the said award shall be aligned with the guidelines set by the CSC for the Dangal ng Bayan Award.

b. Form of Award - a plaque of recognition and a cash award to be determined by the OP-PRAISE Committee will be given during the OP Anniversary, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

3. Extra Mile Employee Award will be given to a human resource who extended prompt, courteous, and extra mile service to clients.

Feedback Mechanism - Each OP office shall develop a feedback form for accomplishment of its clients. The said form shall contain three (3) parts - i.e., type of transaction made, description of the service received by the client, and the compliment, complaint, or suggestion of the client.

Heads of offices are encouraged to give "on-the-spot" recognitions for human resources who were given a commendable remark in any part of the feedback form. Every end of the month, heads of offices may award human resources with at least three (3) commendable remarks from at least three (3) different clients. The commendable remark must indicate the extra mile done by the employee. Rewards may be in such forms as Certificate of Commendation or simple tokens.

a. Qualifications -

i. Those salary grades below 22, or whose equivalent positions/functions are below that of An Assistant Division Chief;

ii. The commendable service must be beyond the employee's functions/duties and performed without additional form of compensation (e.g. compensatory overtime credit, overtime pay, honorarium: and

iii. Must have rendered service for at least one (1) calendar year in OP, with a very satisfactory rating for the last two (2) regular rating periods.

b. Criteria -

The OP PRAISE Committee shall determine the top five (5) employees from among the list of employees who were given Certificates of Commendation submitted by the heads of offices to the OP PRAISE Committee, Criteria for judging shall be as follows:

i. Consistency (60%)
- the number of Certificates of Commendation or valid written commendations received in a calendar year

ii. Purpose of the Extra Mile (40%)
- the nature and work impact of the extra mile

c. Form of Award - a plaque of recognition and a cash award to be determined by the OP-PRAISE Committee will be given during the OP anniversary celebration, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

4. Retirement Award - conferred in recognition of the human resources' continuous dedicated and satisfactory service in the government, under the following criteria and types of awards: 

Satisfactory service shall be measured through the accomplished Individual Performance and Commitment Review Forms (IPCR) for the last two (2) regular rating periods prior to awarding/nomination.

The Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) shall prepare a list from its database to identify retirement awardees (Annex A).

Retirement Awards will be given either during the OP Anniversary Month or the Civil Service Month, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

5. Such other awards that the OP-PRAISE Committee may decide to confer.

The HRMO shall prepare a list from its database to identify awardees for the incentive (Annex B).

The Loyalty Award will be given during the CSC Month, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

2. Career and Self-Development Incentive (CSDI) - shall be granted in recognition of an individual who pursued his/her personal and career development, as detailed hereunder, during his/her employment in OP, without cost from the government (i.e., not a recipient of any scholarship grant, did not avail himself/herself of study leave, attendance to the program was not done during office hours), and with a very satisfactory performance rating in all the regular rating period when he/she was enrolled/took the exam:

2.1. Graduate of Doctoral or Master's Degree in a university/school accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); or

2.2 Passed the Bar/Board Exams while employed in OP, and the license acquired must be relevant to the employee's functions in OP (e.g., lawyer, CPA, engineer)

It is understood that the inclusive period of study/exam/conferment must have started and ended during his/her employment in OP.

a. Criteria and documents to be submitted:

The Documents that should be submitted to the OP-PRAISE Committee Secretariat at the beginning of the calendar year are as follows:

Only submissions with complete documentary requirements will be considered. However, those not considered for a certain year due to incomplete documentary requirements may still be nominated on the year the complete documentary requirements are submitted.

b. Form of Reward

The monetary incentive shall be as follows:

The incentives will be granted/conferred during the CSC Month, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

3. Punctuality and Best in Attendance Awards will be given to an OP Proper human resource in recognition of his/her punctuality and best attendance in office for one full year, to include attendance in the Flag Raising Ceremonies.

a. Qualification and Criteria

Only those who are using the regular fingerscan machine and observing the regular office hours are qualified to receive this award.

Qualified employees must have attained perfect office attendance for the whole calendar year, including perfect attendance in the regular flag raising ceremonies.

Perfect attendance means no incurrence of leaves of absence, tardiness, and undertime during the reference year. Leaves of absence incurred for purposes of Forced Leave are excluded in the count.

b. Nomination Procedure

Duly designated timekeepers will identify human resources who meet the above-mentioned qualifications/criteria and submit the names to the OP-PRAISE Committee Secretariat.

c. Form of Reward - Gift cards at popular malls, book stores, or drugstores, or its equivalent cash price, may be given to awardees, as may be determined by the OP-PRAISE Committee.

4. Rookie of the Year - will be given to an "Onboarding" individual who obtained an "Outstanding" rating during the onboarding period, with submitted supporting documents for such rating.

a. Qualification - The HRMO will idnetify human resources who meet the above-mentioned qualifications/criteria.

b. Form of Award - a monetary incentive of P5,000.00 may be given to an awardee, as may be determined by the OP-PRAISE Committee. The Rookie of the Year Incentive will be given during the CSC month, or in such other appropriate occasion as may likewise be recommended by the Committee.

5. Anniversary Bonus - will be given to qualified human resource on OP's milestone anniversaries, to improve and enhance employee morale.

The human resources must have rendered at least one (1) year of satisfactory service in OP as of the date of the milestone year.

6. On-the-Spot Incentives - In support of the objectives of this Program, heads of offices are encouraged to establish their respective non-monetary and "on-the-spot" incentives following certain criteria that are consistent with this Order. "On-the-Spot" documentary evidence (i.e., Office Order containing the set criteria, certified photocopies of the certificates of commendation/recognition, photographs of the awarding activity/ceremony) shall be officially endorsed by the concerned head of office of the OP-PRAISE Committee, through its Secretariat, for documentation purposes.

Heads of offices/delivery units are encouraged to give simple notes of appreciation, certificates of appreciation, simple tokens, free meals, simple "salu-salo" or any type of incentive to qualified employees within their office/delivery unit to motivate them to give prompt and quality service/performance.

7. Other Incentives that the OP-PRAISE Committee may recommend by virtue of special achievements, innovative approaches to assignments, exemplary service to the President, the public, and other interested parties.

1. Special Recognition of Service - OP employees/retirees from other govenrment agencies who were not conferred any form of reward and/or loyalty incentives.

In the event that a retiree or an OP employee has not received any token/memorabilia for his/her loyal service to the government, either in OP or in the agency where her/she retired prior to joining OP, the retiree/OP employee may receive the token/memorabilia for the aforesaid calendar year, to be conferred on the year of the implementation of these guidelines and, thereafter, on the year following his/her joining OP, provided he/she complies with the following criteria: