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‘Over-the-cap request for Del Rosario to be withdrawn’
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Posted on Feb 27 2006
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial intends to withdraw the administration’s request for the Senate to waive the salary ceiling for senior policy adviser and interim Public Lands Secretary John Del Rosario.
According to press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr., the governor will not pursue an over-the-cap salary for Del Rosario.
Then acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez asked the Senate on Feb. 14, 2006 to increase Del Rosario’s salary from the $50,000 ceiling to $54,000.
“Mr. Del Rosario himself is quite content with his current compensation. The Senate need not consider that request. They can just disregard it,” Reyes said.
Del Rosario is even likely to face a salary cut like most Cabinet members, he added.
The governor will formally withdraw the request if it is necessary but Fitial will reportedly bring up the issue in his weekly meeting with leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives today.
Earlier, the press secretary had said that the pay hike request was justified, as Del Rosario now serves in two capacities.
“He is not only the governor’s senior policy [adviser], but also the interim secretary of the Department of Public Lands. That is a great responsibility. Public Lands is undergoing a very difficult transition period right now,” Reyes had said.
Reyes had also said that Del Rosario was a private businessman and government service was taking him away from his business. Furthermore, he had noted that the current administration was following the lawful process in seeking an over-the-cap salary for Del Rosario, rather than granting it automatically as the previous administration allegedly used to do.
