Duterte orders release of hazard duty pay, special risk allowance to health workers

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday authorized the release of hazard duty pay and special risk allowance to health workers who are on the frontlines in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under Administrative Order 35, national government agencies, state-run corporations and local government units are authorized to grant active hazard duty pay up to P3,000 per month to frontline human resources for health (HRHs) and shall be exempt from income tax.

Duterte’s AO 36 allowed the release of special risk allowance not exceeding P5,000 per month to public and private health workers who directly cater to or are in contact with COVID-19 patients during the state of national emergency.

All claims for the payment of special risk allowance will be validated by the Department of Health and Department of Budget and Management.

The grant of COVID-19 active hazard duty pay and special risk allowance will be pro-rated based on the number of days the health worker physically reports for work in a month, reckoned from September 15, 2020 until December 19, 2020.

Excluded from receiving additional pay were consultants and experts, laborers engaged through job contracts and those paid on piecework basis, student workers and apprentices, as well as individuals and groups whose services are engaged through contract of service or job order, including barangay health workers who are not assigned to hospitals, laboratories, or medical and quarantine facilities.

The allowances will be sourced from the P13.5-billion budget for health-related responses to COVID-19 under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News