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Philippine mayor offers single staff Valentine’s Day bonus to show ‘someone loves them’

  • Employees at the General Luna town hall in Quezon province can get up to 3 times their normal daily wage depending on how long they have been single
  • Mayor Matt Florido, who has himself been single ‘since birth’, says he will finance the initiative from his own pocket

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Women sell heart-shaped balloons at a flower market in Manila. Photo: AP
A lifelong bachelor mayor in the Philippines is giving single staff extra pay on Tuesday for Valentine’s Day, to show gratitude for the extra hours they work and show that “someone loves them”.
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Lonely hearts at General Luna town hall in Quezon province will receive three times their normal daily wage if they have been single for more than five years, Mayor Matt Florido said.

Other footloose and fancy-free staff will get double pay – or the option to take a paid day off.

“I know what they’re going through today, I feel for them,” said Florido, 42, who says he has been single “since birth”.

“On Valentine’s Day no one will give them chocolates, flowers … so we thought of giving them this kind of incentive so they can also feel someone cares for them, someone loves them.”

People buy from a flower market along a busy road in Manila, Philippines. Photo: AP
People buy from a flower market along a busy road in Manila, Philippines. Photo: AP

It is the third year in a row that Florido has handed out bonus payments to singletons in local government.

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