Gov to withhold salaries of gov’t workers if they won’t build toilets in their houses

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Salaries and honoraria of at least 252 government employees and officials residing in the province could be withheld if they could not, on time, comply with an executive order from the provincial governor requiring them to equip their houses with sanitary toilets.

Based on reports from the provincial health office, the names and addresses of these employees and officials were identified. Although some identified individuals were reportedly in the process of building one, most of those in the list haven’t yet started prompting the provincial chief executive to reiterate, through a memorandum, the strict implementation of earlier issuances causing the withholding of salaries and honoraria of employees and elected officials whose houses are without sanitary toilets.

Among those identified individuals include three elected municipal councilors and ten school teachers. Almost a hundred are barangay council members and community peace keepers. The number represented 4.51 percent of the 5,590 houses occupied by government workers and elected officials.

Construction of sanitary toilets has been one of the most controversial programs initiated by the provincial government. More often than not, it has elicited criticisms from some people who believed that the absence of a toilet in one’s house is not enough reason for one’s salary to be withheld.

Others also argued that even they would wish to, many employees weren’t able to afford to build one given the present realities that their take home pay was not enough to afford them “three meals a day.”
Health personnel however explained that the benefits of having one could readily outweigh the cost most especially that the provincial government was able to continuously provide free toilet bowls through donations from Dept. of Health and UNICEF. Health personnel noted the incidence of epidemics significantly decreased upon the start of the program.

On the other hand, an elected provincial official who refused to be identified said that withholding the salary of an employee who refuses to comply with the memorandum was within the bounds of law citing the police power of local government units under the local government code.

The code provides that local government units exercise expressly granted powers and those necessarily implied as well as powers necessary and proper for governance such as to promote health and safety of inhabitants. – ABB