President Arroyo is studying the possibility of granting an additional Christmas bonus apart from the regular cash incentives that more than one million government employees receive every December.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said there is ongoing discussion and consultation to determine whether it is viable or not to provide additional cash backing for state workers.

“In principle, the President is looking into that now. We’re studying that very closely with the Secretary of the DBM (Department of Budget and Management),” he told a press briefing.

“The President is going to give to our national government employees what can be given within the limits or the capability of the National Treasury,” he added.

Remonde issued the statement following the call of former Sen. Ralph Recto, who recently stepped down as socio-economic planning secretary, to grant a Christmas bonus on top of the regular year-end benefits of one month pay and cash gift of P5,000 to government employees.

According to Recto, the total year-end bonuses would reach P17.1 billion, which include cash benefits for civilian government personnel and pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Last year, the government provided P10,000 as additional Christmas bonus, P7,000 of which was shouldered by the national government and the rest from agency savings.