House members to donate May salary to raise P50M for coronavirus fight

Mara Cepeda

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House members to donate May salary to raise P50M for coronavirus fight
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano says almost 200 lawmakers have already agreed to donate their May salaries in full

MANILA, Philippines – Almost 200 members of the House of Representatives are donating their  full salary for the month of May to aid the government’s response against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said in a virtual press conference on Saturday, April 4, they are aiming to raise P50 million to help the government fight the fast-spreading disease. 

“Yes po. Almost 200 congressmen already will donate our whole suweldo ng May ang target po. Initial target is P50 million. I think nasa mahigit na P40 million na po tayo ngayon,” the Speaker said. 

(Yes. Almost 200 congressmen already agreed to donate our full salaries in May. Our initial target is P50 million. I think we have raised over P40 million so far.)

The Taguig City-Pateros 1st District congressman added once the House raises P50 million, lawmakers also plan to solicit donations from their friends to reach P100 million. 

House members are under salary grade 31, an amount between P262,965 to P301,095 monthly according to the latest tranche of the law increasing the wages of government employees.  

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles also said on Saturday that a majority of Cabinet members have volunteered to donate 75% of their monthly salaries to aid efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Like lawmakers, Cabinet members are under salary grade 31.  

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and other city officials have also agreed to donate their salaries in April – about P4.7 million in total – to the Philippine General Hospital, one of the country’s referral medical facilities for COVID-19 patients.  

As of Saturday, the Philippines has tallied a total of 3,094 cases of COVID-19, 144 of which were fatal. Still, 57 patients have already recovered from the disease. – Rappler.com

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Mara Cepeda

Mara Cepeda specializes in stories about politics and local governance. She covers the Office of the Vice President, the Senate, and the Philippine opposition. She is a 2021 fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship and the Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship of the UN. Got tips? Email her at mara.cepeda@rappler.com or tweet @maracepeda.