Photo courtesy of Avito Dalan/PNA
With the Upper House of Congress saddled with the issue of absentee senators not attending plenary sessions, Senator Erwin Tulfo is pushing for fair play in his proposed measure to impose a ‘no work, no pay’ policy among high-ranking officials in government.
With this in the offing, government officials who continue receiving their salaries despite being absent from work should now rethink their priorities as this places concern receiving salaries even with absences committed.
In a press statement, Tulfo noted: “It should be equal—whether you are an ordinary employee or a high-ranking official, it should be ‘no work, no pay’ for everyone.”
The former broadcaster and now incumbent legislator disclosed that he would pushing for legislation that would enforce “no work, no pay” for key government officials when they don’t go to work without a clear reason.
As chair of Senate Blue Ribbon committee, he cited that his proposed bill would include the president, vice president, senators, congressmen, other elected officials, Cabinet secretaries and department heads.
“It’s embarrassing that our staff or ordinary government employees don’t get paid when they are absent without prior notice, but we officials still get paid even if we are absent for weeks or months,” he focused.
Likewise, Tulfo announced that his proposal would also include taking away allowances from officials who are absent without proper leave, stressing that absences of high-ranking officials have “become a habit” but without referring to fellow senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa who remains in hiding due to the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest.
The former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief reportedly drew his basic monthly salary of approximately ₱293,191 to ₱300,000 during his extended absence. This has been estimated to be around ₱2.1 million over 7 months, though Dela Rosa claimed that he did not take his pay.