To help in the government’s effort to fight the crisis brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a majority of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet members volunteered to donate a ‘large portion’ of their monthly salaries.
In an Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases briefing on Saturday, April 4, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said most of the Cabinet members were willing to give “75 percent” of their monthly pay to the government’s programs that aim to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, while under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act’s implementation.
“Ilan sa ating mga kasamahan ay boluntaryong babawasan ang kanilang mga sahod hanggang Disyembre pa ngayong taon para sa mga programang ito (Some of our colleagues will voluntarily contribute from their salaries until December of this year for these programs),” Nograles said.
He, however, did not mention the names of other Cabinet members who pledged to donate a portion of their salaries, but said that he is one of them.
“‘Yung ibang opisyales sila na lang siguro ‘yung magsabi kung sinu-sino sila (As for the other officials, I will just leave it to them to reveal who they are),” he said.
The President earlier signed the Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act which gives him additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis, among those is the authority to realign government funds to strengthen the Philippines’ response against the deadly disease.
With this, Duterte earlier said that the Executive Department can now “move, decide, and act freely for the best interest of the Filipino people during this health crisis.”
The end date of the month-long enhanced community quarantine that is currently being implemented throughout Luzon is nearing, but the Philippine authorities are yet to decide whether they will lift or extend it, as the tally of the confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise.