UP Manila Grateful to DBM and TWG for the Approval of UP System Performance-Based Bonus and Retagging of Faculty Positions

October 12, 2026

Text by: Jennifer F. Manongdo
Photos by: Jericho Paolo Mabansag

Department of Budget and Management Acting Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon gets a glimpse of the complexities of being a surgeon during his visit to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine on Oct. 9, 2026.

Chancellor Michael Tee expressed gratitude to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for providing greater stability for educators and acknowledging the hard work of all University of the Philippines employees.

He also thanked the UP Manila technical working group whose efforts led to the approval of the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) of UP Manila employees for the fiscal year 2024.

This development follows the visit of DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon to the different colleges of UP Manila on Oct. 9, 2026, during which he announced that the entire UP System is eligible to receive the FY 2024 Performance-Based Bonus (PBB). He also confirmed the conversion of 184 UP Manila part-time faculty positions into regular positions and the reclassification of five faculty items to full-time status.

“Nais kong pasalamatan ang buong UP Manila community sa outstanding performance na nagbunga ng pagkilalang ito. Kasabay nito ay nais kong kilalanin sa harap ng ating mga bisita, Secretary Kim de Leon, Usec. Goddess Libiran at Asec Gerald Janda, ang mga kawani na nagpursige sa ating compliance para sa PBB Fiscal Year 2024. Sila ay pinamunuan ng ating supervising official, Vice Chancellor Johanna Patricia Cañal, chair ng ating Fiscal Year 2024 Technical Working Group; kasama sina Assistant Professor Kristofferson Mendoza, Vicky Galvan, Erwin Dando, Melissa Gacote, Jorel Manalo, Diosdado Calmada, Ehcel Hurna, Director Melody Jane Rojo, at Ms. Anne Loren Claire Santos,” Chancellor Tee said in a short program.

He also thanked the following for the retagging of UP Manila professors: DBM Undersecretary Goddess Hope Libiran, DBM Assistant Secretary Gerald R. Janda, HRDO Director Michael Antonio Mendoza, Jorel Manalo, and Derrick Palacio.

“For UP Manila, government support enables us to build the capacity needed to serve the country’s health needs. The facilities and infrastructure we inspected today are a concrete expression of that support. The upgraded laboratories and learning spaces, the equipment we have acquired, and the facilities we have developed expand what our students can learn, what our researchers can discover, and what our health professionals can do for patients,” he emphasized.

The DBM official’s visit to UP Manila highlighted the premier Health Sciences Center’s modern teaching facilities. Sec. De Leon and his team toured the College of Allied Medical Professions’ SMART classroom, College of Nursing’s Simulation Laboratory, and the College of Medicine’s Anatomy Laboratory and Skills Laboratory.

“If we want students to have a better future, we must also take better care of the people preparing them for that future,” Sec. De Leon said in the program where he made the important announcements regarding the retagging of faculty positions and the PBB.

“Kung meron pa man pong karagdagan, we just have to revisit our existing plantilla so that we can continue to support UP Manila and the UP system in general,” he added.