EDITORIAL - Happy anomaly

Everybody loves a bonus, especially in the Philippines where many in its bloated government bureaucracy — home to the most fantastically atrocious bonuses — do not deserve any. In the Philippines a bonus has become an automatic expectation.

Outside the Philippines, a bonus is generally understood as a gratuity, like a tip is to a waiter. It is a reward for work well done, an appreciation expressed in the form of money. Seen in such context, the recipient of a bonus gets something extra — the feeling of genuine pride.

But back to the Philippines. Here a bonus, given around Christmas, is a certainty. Never mind if the intended beneficiaries have not performed well enough to deserve it. So much a part of life has the bonus become that all hell could break loose if none is given.

Strangely however, instead of merely maintaining what is already an anomaly, officials of the different departments, bureaus, agencies, and local governments all seem to want to outdo one another in coming up with the most numerous or sizeable bonuses.

Not only that, it is as if there is a contest among officials to come up with either the most innovative excuses to give a bonus or the most lame ones. But excuses are only for those who feel the need to find excuses. To those who don’t give a damn, thrusting out the jaw is enough.

In Cebu City, whose prideful claim to being the Queen City of the South is slipping, the proposed bonus this Christmas for its 5,000 or so employees, permanent or otherwise, is P20,000 across the board.

Like in many other places in the Philippines, this bonus is way bigger than the regular monthly salaries of many of its employees. It would not be surprising, therefore, for a worker who gets paid only P6,000 a month to drop to his knees on getting a P20,000 bonus.

That worker is a landed fish, and will probably do anything for his benefactor at his behest, a nifty arrangement with elections just around the corner. In addition to going out on a limb on the meaning of gratuity, such a bonus smells truly fishy.

To those who truly deserve them, may the bonuses come on winged feet. May they be hefty enough to be meaningful. And may those who give them feel part of the appreciation. To those who do not deserve them, may they be joyful just the same. It’s more fun, after all, in this land.