Ordinance allocates P151 million for hazard pay of Manila city workers

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno signs an ordinance allocating P151 million for the hazard pay of city employees who physically reported for work during the Metro Manila ECQ. (Photo from his office)

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno signed on Monday, Aug. 24, signed an ordinance allocating a budget of P151 million for the hazard pay of city workers who physically reported for work under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Ordinance No. 8667 authorizes the payment of COVID-19 hazard pay worth P500 for every day that a city employee physically reported for work during the ECQ — whether that employee has a  regular, contractual or casual status or engaged through a contract of service, job order or other similar schemes.

Employees should have been authorized to physically report for work during the prescribed official working hours by the head of their department, bureau, or office during the ECQ, Moreno said.

President Rodrigo Duterte had placed the entire Metro Manila under ECQ from March 17 to May 15 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Moreno, the P151 million budget will be sourced from the city’s Personal Services and Special Activities fund and Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses fund.

The ordinance was signed pursuant to Malacañang’s Administrative Order No. 26, series of 2020 which authorized the grant of COVID-19 hazard pay to government personnel who physically reported for work.

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