Twelve senators forming the chamber’s newly installed majority have committed a full month of their salaries toward recovery work in Mindanao, where a magnitude 7.8 earthquake left dozens dead and thousands displaced on Monday.
Senator Risa Hontiveros disclosed the pledge through a Facebook post on Tuesday, framing the contribution as a personal one from members of the bloc. “As a personal contribution to the relief effort, members of the Senate New Majority are prepared to donate one month of our salary to help support affected communities,” she said.
The bloc is led by Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian and Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Its other members are Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, Francis Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, Raffy Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Lito Lapid, and Francis “Chiz” Escudero. Drawing on Department of Budget and Management salary data, the Inquirer estimated that lawmakers’ monthly pay ranges from roughly P278,000 to P381,000, which would put the combined donation above P3 million.
Hontiveros pressed the minority bloc to take part as well, casting the disaster as a reason for senators to set aside the rivalries that have divided the chamber in recent weeks. “While this is a small contribution, we hope our colleagues in the Minority will join us in this effort. After all, we are senators of all Filipino people. This is a moment when the Senate, whatever its internal divisions, can still speak through one act of shared compassion,” the post read.
In their joint statement, the senators tied the gesture to the long road ahead for the region. “The Senate New Majority stands with the families and communities in Mindanao who are now facing the painful work of rescue, relief, rebuilding and recovery after the powerful earthquake,” they said.
The quake struck off Maasim in Sarangani on Monday morning. The Office of Civil Defense reported a death toll of 35 as of Monday night, with 31 fatalities in SOCCSKSARGEN and four in the Davao region; within SOCCSKSARGEN, 17 were recorded in Sarangani, 12 in General Santos City, and two in South Cotabato. The OCD also logged scores of injuries and several people still unaccounted for, cautioning that the numbers remained subject to validation as ground reports came in.
The relief commitment surfaced a day after the chamber’s earthquake response reached the committee level. Erwin Tulfo, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, suspended a consultative meeting on alleged anomalous flood control projects on Monday in deference to the quake’s victims, telling those present the panel would pause its work as a mark of respect.
