Reyes eases fear of payless payday

Rep. Karl T. Reyes, chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, yesterday brushed aside possibility of payless payday in the government during the holiday season in an attempt to ease worries of its nearly 5,000 employees.

“There is not going to be payless payday this year,” he told in an interview when asked for comment on the effort of the Tenorio administration to raise $18 million this month for government payroll.

“If we all pitch in and all requests for payment are held back, the payroll will still be met,” Reyes said.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio the other day said his administration is looking for ways to boost dwindling revenue collections in a move to meet its payroll needs of $18 million covering three pay periods this month.

Reyes, however, said he is optimistic finance officials will find ways to avert delay in the payment of the salary of civil service employees and other government workers, particularly during the Christmas holiday.

“There are certain ways in which they can issue pay checks and let them float for 10 days (until funds are available),” the representative said.

About 75 percent of the fiscal budget is allocated for the payment of the salary of the 5,000-strong government work force, equivalent to $189 million.

But the worsening economic conditions on the island have pushed actual revenue collections of the cash-strapped government down by 13.4 percent, forcing Tenorio to slash its spending level by $32.5 million for FY 1999.

While ongoing austerity policy implemented by the administration since January has yielded at least $12 million in savings, officials maintain the amount is not sufficient to meet all its financial obligations.

A package of fresh cost-cutting measures, including the proposed pay cut and reduction of work hours in the government, is set to be unveiled by Tenorio in the next few weeks in a frantic effort to shore up the depleting coffers.

The island is reeling from its worst crisis in years due to the year-long economic turmoil gripping much of Asia, NMI’s major source of tourism revenues and investments.

To prevent potential bankruptcy, Senate Floor leader Pete P. Reyes yesterday vowed to assist the administration deal with its financial woes by coming up with legislation aimed at generating income for the NMI government.

He urged the House of Representatives to pass the proposed bill on inheritance tax that will cover the estate of the late multi-millionaire Larry Hillblom to raise additional funds as well as the measure seeking a cap on nonresident workers employed by the garment industry.

“We are running out of time on this and if we support these measures, then we will be in better financial shape than where we are right now,” said Reyes, who also chairs the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee.

He also stressed that the move is not an “economic scare tactic. This is real. The (Public School System) is not buying the story that this situation is an economic scare tactic.”