MANILA, Philippines—There was nothing irregular in the release of up to P150,000 each in bonus for employees of the House of Representatives, according to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday (Dec. 23).
Each House employee was said to have taken home P112,000 in net after P38,000 was deducted for withholding tax. This was P2,000 higher than the bonus released to the employees under then Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who authorized a bonus of P110,000 each for every House employee.
READ: House employees get P150,000 bonus each
Cayetano said the release of bonuses to House employees was not a new practice and had been built upon the amount of bonus that each employee got in previous years.
“I do not control the amount of the bonus because I was not in Congress for the last 12 years,” he said at a press conference.
“So whatever the amount was when I came in, I cannot decrease it because the employees have families. They are also working hard. There is nothing anomalous about it,” he said.
He also admitted being slightly “hurt” about allegations that the deductions on the bonus might just be pocketed by House members.
The House leader assured that lawmakers will not pocket any portion of the employees’ bonuses as this was being strictly monitored by the Commission on Audit (COA).
On the amount of the bonus itself, Cayetano said believed it was not excessive as it could help employees resist the temptation of graft and corruption and at the same time take care of their families.
The House, however, would have to make adjustments should the COA flag the disbursement for bonus.
Cayetano said he preferred salaries, benefits, insurance and bonuses of House employees be “above board.” “This will keep people from graft and corruption and take care of their family,” he said.
“If COA says there’s something wrong, we will make the adjustments,” the Speaker said. “But as far as we know, I did not invent this but I cannot renege on it,” he added.
Edited by TSB