Sen. Joseph Victor “J.V.” Ejercito (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Some 20 retired workers of the San Juan City Hall have not received their terminal pay amounting to P40 million, Sen. JV Ejercito bared on Monday.
Ejercito was a former mayor of San Juan City. So were his brother, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada; his father, former President Joseph Estrada; and his mother, Guia Gomez.
“It is disappointing to hear that the terminal pay of some retirees has not been given. But what is more alarming is that blocking it was because of who they were allied with,” Ejercito said in Filipino in a privilege speech.
“What the retired employees of San Juan are going through is a sad picture of what happens in the local political scene in the country: There is color and division,” he added.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri asked Ejercito how much the outstanding terminal pay of the employees is, to which Ejercito replied: “Around P40 million.”
Ejercito stressed that he was not criticizing San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora.
“This is a request that the terminal pay of employees be released because it has been almost four years since they ended their service in San Juan and up to now they still have not seen it,” Ejercito said.
He said that he had talked to Zamora about the issue. But the mayor said that the terminal pay was not included in the city budget.
Ejercito, Zubiri, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, and Sen. Raffy Tulfo urged Zamora to settle the unpaid terminal pay.