Nograles: Cabinet members to donate 75% of monthly salary to aid COVID-19 fight

MANILA, Philippines — A majority of Cabinet members have pledged to voluntarily donate 75 percent of their monthly salary to aid the government’s fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Saturday.

“Nais din nating ipagbigay-alam na ang karamihan, majority, ng mga miyembro ng gabinete ni Pangulong Duterte ay boluntaryong ibibigay ang malaking bahagi —75%— ng kanilang buwanang sahod upang ilaan sa mga programa ng gobyerno upang sugpuin ang COVID-19 sa loob ng panahong pinapatupad ang Bayanihan Law,” Nograles said during the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases briefing.

(We wish to inform you that a majority of the members of the Cabinet of President Duterte will voluntarily give 75 percent of their monthly salaries to the programs of the government to end COVID-19 during the effectivity of the Bayanihan Law.)

He was referring to Republic Act 11469, or the Bayabihan to Heal As One Law, which also gave President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis.

Some of the Cabinet members, Nograles added, will donate their salaries until December of this year just to support the anti-COVID-19 programs.

Nograles added that he is also one of the Cabinet members who have pledged to donate their salaries.

As of Saturday, the country’s number of COVID-19 cases has soared to 3,018, with 136 deaths and 52 recoveries.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, Luzon was placed under an enhanced community quarantine. The quarantine period ends on April 13, 2020.

/MUF