There is nothing wrong with the “no vaccine, no Christmas bonus” policy of Cebu City acting mayor Michael Rama, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

In a virtual press conference, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the granting of a Christmas bonus is not mandatory.

“Wala po akong nakikitang pagkakamali diyan kasi Christmas bonus po ang pinag-uusapan. Hindi naman po requirement ng batas na magbigay ng Christmas bonus. Ang requirement po para sa mga taong gobyerno ay 13th and 14th month pay (I don’t see anything wrong there because we’re talking about Christmas bonus. The release of Christmas bonus is not mandated by law. What is required for government workers is the 13th month pay and the 14th pay),” Roque said.

On Monday, Rama announced that PHP20,000 will be released as a Christmas bonus of Cebu City Hall employees, on condition that all of them get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Rama’s move is seen to further boost the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Cebu City.

Roque said Rama’s policy is acceptable to convince more people to get inoculated against the coronavirus.

“Dahil discretionary po ang Christmas bonus, pupuwedeng gamitin po iyan kabahagi ng incentive para
makapagbakuna ang mas marami sa atin (Since Christmas bonus is discretionary, that policy could be made to vaccinate more people),” he said.

The Philippines aims to vaccinate 70 percent of its general population within 2021.

As of Monday, a total of 64,947,366 Covid-19 vaccine jabs have already been administered nationwide.

Around 29,809,085 individuals have already been fully protected against the coronavirus, while 35,138,281 others have received the first dose of the vaccine. (PNA)