Senators on Thursday welcomed the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) order for companies to release their employees’ 13th month pay on or before December 24.

Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said he welcomes the latest pronouncement from DOLE as the law, Presidential Decree 851, does not provide an exemption in the grant of the annual 13th month pay.

“A subsequent memorandum, specifically Memorandum Order No. 28 issued by then President Cory Aquino in 1986 while she exercised legislative powers, does not exempt ‘distressed’ companies from granting a 13th month pay to their employees,” Drilon said in a statement.

“Such an exemption was in the implementing rules issued in 1975. However, there is nothing in the law which provides for that exemption and that was superseded by President Cory’s issuance,” the minority leader reiterated.

Drilon said he was the labor secretary then when the government crafted the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) on the grant of the 13th month pay.

“I made sure that all rank and file employees would receive an annual 13th month pay,” he stressed.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment, also welcomed DOLE’s directive.

Villanueva, however, said the DOLE should strictly monitor employers to ensure they are complying with the order on the 13th month pay, which undoubtedly would be a source of additional cash for families and workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Villanueva also urged the government to provide financial assistance to distressed employers so they can comply with the 13th month pay law.

“Isa po ang Department of Trade and Industry sa mga maaaring matakbuhan ng ating mga MSMEs dahil mayroon silang available loan facility at 0% interest (The DTI is one of the agencies that the micro small and medium enterprises can run to because they have an available loan facility at zero percent interest rate),” Villanueva said in a separate statement.

“Akayin po natin ang ating mga MSMEs dahil malaki po ang kanilang gagampanan na tungkulin sa muling pagsigla ng ating ekonomiya (Let’s encourage our MSMEs because they have a huge role in helping us revive our economy),” he said.