Pasig, Pasay gov’t workers get full pay during quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — Government employees in the cities of Pasig and Pasay will be paid despite the enhanced community quarantine imposed on Luzon.

In an executive order identifying offices under an alternative work arrangement, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto said that regular, contractual and job order employees would get their full salaries.

“To our employees at the frontlines, you will receive hazard pay, overtime pay and other benefits,” he announced in a Facebook post.

Sotto also said on Wednesday that 400,000 food packs would be distributed to residents by the end of the week.

The city government has requested P158 million in emergency procurement funds for the food packs, he added.

On top of their salaries, Pasay City Hall employees will also receive their 13th month pay, said Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano. Early midyear bonus

Parañaque government workers, meanwhile, will be getting their pay, midyear bonus and clothing allowance early, said Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Both mayors said the early release of bonuses would help those affected by the Luzon lockdown.

In Mandaluyong City, Mayor Menchie Abalos assured indigent residents that groceries would be dropped off weekly at every household in all of the city’s 27 barangays for the duration of the Luzon lockdown. “We are appealing for the understanding of the middle class or those who can afford to buy their own supplies, because we will be prioritizing poor households which don’t have the means to go out and buy their basic necessities under the quarantine,” Abalos said.

The grocery packs, which will include basic necessities such as rice, sugar, coffee, vegetables and canned goods, will be distributed by barangay officials.

—With reports from Jodee A. Agoncillo and Dexter Cabalza