It should be conceded that Malacañang does practice skill in domesticating government workers, however insidious it is.
Government employees have lately been protesting against the new standardization law that supposedly increased the basic pay of state employees. It turned out, however, that through budget maneuvers, the Palace, through its Budget secretary, withdrew most of the other allowances provided under the law, resulting in an actual lower take home pay for the already underpaid public servants.
The Malacañang resident and his yellow allies always try to portray themselves as generous and caring, yet what they do is to claim increases while withdrawing existing allowances provided under the law.
The Palace, however, is introducing a form of a performance bonus where it would be up to Malacañang or heads of agencies to determine who deserves to get it, conveniently making the whole government docile to Noynoy to the point of brownosing him to get that so-called bonus.
Do what Noynoy wants and get paid for it, would be the rule since the allowances being taken away are all provided for under the law.
It is no different from telling government workers: Sue us if you don’t like how you’re being paid.
Those employees, such as the lowly workers of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) or those in the judiciary who depend on allowances to get through their daily needs are now protesting since they are now being forced to scratch out a living out of almost starvation pay.
The ploy obviously is to take away every other extra income from basic pay that state workers are getting and later introduce the performance bonus scheme to condition them into submitting to the whims of the Palace and its minions who are the heads of the government agencies, some of whom are enjoying their perks to the max, spending taxpayers’ money for their luxury and comfort, as discovered in a recent budget hearing on the claimed reformist Commission on Elections, whose top officials spent a huge sum for their luxury cottages.
But who would believe that the bonuses would be based on output instead of how good certain boots are licked up?
To see the real intent of the current thrust of Noy’s budget man Butch Abad in streamlining the salaries of government workers, one only needs to look back at how Noynoy treated the protesting Pagasa forecasters over the same allowances issue.
Noynoy went to the Pagasa office with the workers expecting him to come to their aid as Chief Executive.
What they got was a bossy Noynoy telling them off, saying  that state workers are not allowed to hold protest actions and warned them of the consequences of pursuing their protests while a new tropical storm was approaching.
That’s the haciendero in Noynoy — the same way he treats the family’s hacienda workers when they demand that which is due them.
But imagine scientists who are highly-priced abroad choosing to stick out in Pagasa mostly out of pure idealism and receiving pay not even enough for public transportaion to last until the next payday and Noynoy would barge in and tell them to stop whining.
Pag-asa is Noy’s favorite whipping boy whenever disaster strikes since it is the least politically-charged part of government, having mostly apolitical scientists in it.
The same way with workers in the judiciary whose allowances provided under the law are being stripped off because most have defied Noynoy during the impeachment proces on former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
To get back what you lost, learn to lick ass, Noy’s preferrably.
That’s what Noynoy and his yellows want: Beg for what is rightfully and legally theirs, and bow to his every command.