Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo on Sunday said President Rodrigo Duterte was donating a month’s pay to the Covid-19 relief. Cabinet members also pledged to donate a huge portion of their salaries, he said.
In a statement, Panelo said:
“The Palace confirms that many of the members of the President’s cabinet have pledged to cut 75% of their monthly salaries from the month of April to December of this year. Others have volunteered a salary deduction for the whole duration of the state of public health emergency in solidarity with our countrymen and to help in the government efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus.”
Panelo also said assistant secretaries of the Offices of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesperson have “likewise committed to donate at least 10 percent of their income directly to the Office of Civil Defense this month, and will continue providing financial and relief assistance from their salaries to groups who are at the frontline of this health crisis in the succeeding months.”
“The Office of the President is pleased to know that the two other branches of the government have their own program of helping the battle against COVID-19 even as we acknowledge the support given by various heads of offices and agencies in their personal capacities to thwart the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said senators have been helping the Covid-19 relief without fanfare.
Our duty as lawmakers is to promptly pass the enabling law so the exec dept can use govt funds to respond during this health crisis. We did so in 18 hrs. it’s not our mandate to repack rice and sardines with a complete PR team around us. Some of us do, WITHOUT the PR team!
— Tito Sotto (@sotto_tito) April 4, 2020