By EJ Roque/PNA
MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte has vetoed the bill strengthening the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and increasing the benefits of its workers as he cited the measure’s impact on the entire government bureaucracy.
In his veto letter sent to Congress on March 7 and released to the media on Friday, Duterte said that while he supports and values the work of the OSG, there are provisions in the bill which may be disadvantageous to the government.
“I am apprehensive that the provisions thereof granting benefits beyond the current compensation framework for other government offices may prove to be too onerous to the government,” Duterte told members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The President said the approval of the bill will bring disparity and inequality among government workers in the executive branch.
“The new benefits granted in addition to the benefits enjoyed by other government offices would erode the National Government’s thrust to standardize and rationalize the current compensation framework in the bureaucracy,” he said.
Duterte added that approving the bill will undermine the principle of “equal pay for work of equal value”.
The President urged Congress to review the measure again to come up with a version that would strengthen the OSG but not undermine “other equally vital fiscal and policy considerations”.
