President Rodrigo Duterte says he will give P50,000 as a Christmas bonus to every government employee under the Office of the President.
Malacañang Photo
He made the announcement as he led the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the Palace grounds on Monday evening.
He made his statement even as the Alliance of Concerned Teachers on Tuesday asked him to give cash gifts to all government personnel.
The group, through ACT national chairman Joselyn Martinez, issued the call following reports that Duterte would give the employees under the Office of the President P50,000 as a Christmas bonus.
Duterte’s daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio of Davao City, earlier gave the same amount to city hall personnel, prompting her father to do the same.
In a statement, ACT asked Duterte “to take into consideration the whole government bureaucracy, not to play favorites in giving out benefits and bonuses.”
“It seems Duterte often forgets that he’s no longer merely a mayor anymore, but the President of the Philippines,” Martinez said.
“He cannot continue practicing patronage politics while the rest of the country hardly makes ends meet, with our belts incessantly tightening as the holiday season fast approaches.”
Rizalina Justol, deputy executive secretary for Finance and Administration of the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration, said the employees under the Office of the President would receive the usual P30,000 bonus plus an additional P10,000.
After a chat with Sara Duterte-Carpio, Duterte said he would raise the bonus of the OP staff to P50,000 to be at par with the bonus of the Davao City employees.
“Hey, Inday said, ‘You are in Manila, the National Capital, and you only have 40? I give my employees in Davao 50.’ So, we’re going to compete with Davao,” he said, referring to his daughter as Inday.
“I told Lina Apostol, I don’t care. Steal money, borrow, snitch some money as long as you make that 50. So, it’s gonna be 50,” the President said, receiving waves of laughter from his employees.
“Is that okay? I’m okay.”