President Marcos and his family will spend Christmas in Malacañang, the Presidential Communications Office confirmed on Friday.
“He will be in Manila lang daw po,” PCO Assistant Secretary Rowena Hidalgo said in a Viber message to Palace reporters.
This would be the second straight time the First Family will celebrate Christmas at the Palace on the banks of the Pasig River since Mr. Marcos assumed the presidency last year.
On his official Facebook page, President Marcos thanked his supporters as he welcomed them inside Malacañang.
“Mula noon hanggang ngayon, labis ang ating pasasalamat sa ating mga taga-suporta! (From then until now, we are extremely grateful to our supporters),” the President said.
“I am happy to be with you again at the Palace this Christmas.
Together, let’s continue what we’ve started, towards the New Philippines we aspire to,” he added.
Meanwhile, the President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, on Friday reminded private companies that former rank-and-file workers who resigned or whom they fired are still entitled to benefit from the 13th-Month Pay law.
“Even if you worked for only a month this year, you should be able to receive at least 1,000 pesos from your previous employer,” she told workers in a statement.
The senator based her computation on the minimum wage for eight-hour workdays in Metro Manila.
She also emphasized that private school teachers are specially entitled to a full 13th-month’s pay if they have served for at least a month within a year.
Thirteenth-month benefits became law just before Christmas of 1975 through Presidential Decree 851, which meant to “protect the level of real wages from the ravage of worldwide inflation.”
The decree’s revised guidelines in August 1986 clarified the annual bonus for existing as well as former employees.
“Just knocking on hard hearts, as food prices continue to rise. Many are still short of funds for the traditional Christmas Eve celebration,” Marcos said.
The senator pointed out that 13th-month benefits should be distributed by Dec. 24, the deadline prescribed by law.