MANILA, Philippines?The Department of Education announced on Friday that all of its teachers received their Christmas bonuses early this month albeit partially.

In a statement, DepEd said all of its 554,000 employees?most of them teachers?have received their P7,000 bonus, also referred to as the Productivity Enhancement Incentive. But it was short of the P10,000 Christmas bonus President Macapagal-Arroyo promised last year to all government employees.

The P7,000 bonus per employee came from the national government while the remaining P3,000 should have been sourced from the savings of the respective agencies.

To complete the bonuses, the DepEd needs P1.6 billion, of which only P550 million in savings have been released so far.

But in the same statement, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus promised that, as agreed with the Department of Budget and Management, "the additional P3,000 bonus of the teachers will be paid as soon as possible."

He added: "If we have to sacrifice funds allocated for other programmed expenditures to give all our teachers the full benefits due them, we will do it."

He also assured education employees in Rodriguez, Rizal, that the funds for their bonuses stolen by robbers last month will be replaced.

Armed men took away P4.9 million in cash that DepEd personnel had just withdrawn from a bank. The money was intended for the cash gifts of some 800 teachers.

"The regional office is doing its best to replace the amount from available funds," the DepEd statement said.