MALACAÑANG on Wednesday maintained that President Rodrigo Duterte did not offer exorbitant bonuses to the country’s top policemen following reports from policemen claiming they received amounts from the office of Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa on Monday.
“Well, somebody is supposed to have said that sort of thing, but from my own source, nothing was received from their end,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
“Nothing was received from their end and nothing may be forthcoming.”
Malacañang on Tuesday denied Dela Rosa’s announcement that the top policemen would receive bonuses of P100,000 each.
Abella said they were still seeking confirmation on where the President had sourced the now canceled cash bonus.
PNP spokesman Dionardo Carlos denied that some top police officials had already received their Christmas bonuses. He asked those claiming to have received their bonuses to show their receipts as proof.
Several media reports had quoted a police official as saying that the top police officials had received at least P100,000 each on Monday. Carlos denied the claim and even challenged the anonymous source to reveal himself.
“We really have to look into the claim of that officer—who is that officer, what he has signed, what he has received—before we claim that it came from the commander in chief,” Carlos said.
Dela Rosa’s announcement of the cash gift for high-ranking policemen sparked questions about where Duterte had sourced the funds and why the bonus did not include the policemen below the star rank.