Duterte to donate a month's salary to COVID-19 response

President Rodrigo Duterte would donate a month's salary to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) effort, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced in a Sunday statement.

"Assistant Secretaries of the Offices of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesperson have likewise committed to donate at least 10% of their income directly to the Office of Civil Defense this month, and will continue providing financial and relief assistance from their salaries to groups who are at the frontline of this health crisis in the succeeding months," added Panelo.

Most of the members of the President’s Cabinet had committed three-fourths of their April to December salaries to the government’s funds for the COVID-19 response.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said earlier that lawmakers from the House of Representatives donated more than P40 million to the COVID-19 effort; while Senate President Vicente Sotto III revealed that senators had been donating their salaries and more, albeit silently.

"The Office of the President is pleased to know that the two other branches of the government have their own program of helping the battle against COVID-19 even as we acknowledge the support given by various heads of offices and agencies in their personal capacities to thwart the COVID-19 pandemic," said the President's spokesperson. — DVM, GMA News