THE Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, August 14, 2020, said it has submitted a recommendation to include the hazard pay for private health workers in the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or the Bayanihan 2 bill.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency seeks to provide P10,000 per month risk allowance for private health workers.
“So ang move ng ating gobyerno is taasan ang incentives na i-offer doon sa hiring natin (for health workers). We have now included in the recommendation for the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act part 2 na magkaroon ng additional benefits,” Vergeire said in an online press briefing.
“We have already included there yung P10,000 risk allowance na ibibigay sa private health workers per month for the duration of the pandemic. Magkakaroon din ng kalinawan yung special risk allowance ng public health workers per month d’yan din,” she said.
In the House of Representatives’ version of the Bayanihan 2 bill, there is a proposed P10.5-billion fund which will be allocated to the Department of Health (DOH).
There is also a proposed P4-billion fund to finance the construction of temporary medical isolation and quarantine facilities, field hospitals, dormitories for frontliners, and for the expansion of government hospital capacity all over the country.
Controversy over the hazard pay of medical frontliners erupted after Joie Cruz, daughter of nurse Ma. Theresa Cruz who died from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), revealed that her mother was given only P64.18 hazard pay per day instead of the P500 per day promised by DOH.
After her mother died, Cruz said the Cainta Municipal Government released only about P7,000 in hazard pay.
“Apparently, the Covid hazard pay of the nurses in their public hospital has been reduced to just P150 per day and on top of it were deductions that were not even properly explained by the hospital administration. In the end, it appears my mom was only given a freaking P64.18 ($ 1.31) per day for her Covid hazard pay for 41 days,” Cruz said in a Facebook post that went viral.
Cainta Mayor Johnielle Nieto belied Cruz’s statement, saying that the local government provides P300 hazard payment per day.
“Three hundred pesos a day ang hazard na binigay ng Cainta local government unit sa mga frontliners. Ito ay makukuha mo bukod pa sa sweldong matatanggap mo bilang nurse ng ospital,” he said in his Facebook post.
“Sa 60-day period na pinagbasehan ng Covid timeline, kung pumasok ang frontliner ng 60 days, makakatanggap siya ng 18,000 pesos. Ang namayapang nurse ay pumasok ng 33 days. P21,000 plus ang sweldo niya. Tumatanggap na rin siya ng hazard pay bilang nurse base sa percentage ng nakukuha niyang sweldo. Kahit wala pang Covid,” he added.
Under Malacañang Administrative Order no. 26, the hazard pay for personnel who physically report for work during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in their respective work stations shall receive an amount not exceeding P500 day.
“Personnel who are already entitled to hazard pay, hazardous duty pay, hazard allowance or other similar benefits under existing laws, issuances, rules and regulations, such as public health workers, public social workers, science and technology personnel and military and uniformed personnel, shall continue to be entitled to such benefits or the Covid-19 hazard pay, whichever is higher,” the order read.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday vowed to investigate the reduction in the hazard pay of the Cainta nurse. (SunStar Philippines)