The Mandaue City government has upgraded its annual Christmas gift packs for City Hall and city-paid employees, adding more items without increasing the overall cost.
Instead of receiving only one kilo of ham, employees will now get a package containing ham, chorizo, and longganisa, still valued at P600—the same amount previously allocated for ham alone.
Mayor Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano announced the enhancement during a press briefing, saying the city decided to improve the contents of the gift pack while maintaining the same budget.
Ouano said city employees traditionally receive a kilo of ham every Christmas, but the local government opted to “level up” the package this year without additional spending.
Around 10,000 employees are expected to benefit from the improved Christmas packs. These include regular and job order workers, clean and green personnel, barangay workers, and Department of Education (DepEd) employees, among others.
Job order workers will also receive a P5,000 salary differential, while barangay health workers, barangay nutrition scholars, and clean and green personnel are set to receive P2,400 each.
Regular city government employees have already received their year-end bonus equivalent to one month’s salary, which was released on November 15.
City employees who are residents of Mandaue City will further benefit from a separate noche buena package containing 10 items, including ingredients for fruit salad and spaghetti.
Eligibility for the noche buena packs is based on the 2023 Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) census. While the CBMS lists around 86,000 households, the city procured 100,000 packs to cover households not included in the database, subject to validation.
Distribution of the noche buena packs began on December 14 and will run until December 19.
On the first day of distribution, Mayor Ouano personally led the Gugma sa Pasko food pack activities in the barangays of Cabancalan, Paknaan, Casuntingan, Tingub, Cubacub, Umapad, Ibabao-Estancia, Labogon, Maguikay, and Pagsabungan.
The city government said validation of unlisted households will continue to ensure that more families can receive assistance before the end of the year.
Ouano said the assistance comes at a timely moment, noting that Cebu, including Mandaue City, has recently faced several calamities.
Despite the challenges brought by typhoons, earthquakes, and fires, he said the distribution of food packs aims to bring comfort and joy to residents as they prepare for the Christmas season. ( VCL)
