Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 15) — The Department of Labor and Employment is in talks with employers to set a minimum hazard pay for health workers in the private sector amid the coronavirus crisis.
“Pinag-uusapan na po ngayon ng Department of Labor and Employment kasama ng mga private employers ang suggestion tungkol sa minimum hazard pay para sa ating mga healthcare workers sa pribadong kumpanya,” Health Spokesperson Ma. Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing on Wednesday.
[Translation: The Department of Labor and Employment and private employers are discussing the suggestion on the minimum hazard pay for healthcare workers in private companies.]
Vergeire was asked to respond to reports that some nurses in private hospitals have been receiving a hazard pay of only ₱200 a day since the COVID-19 started.
The Palace, through Administrative Order No. 26, had set the amount at ₱500 daily for all public health workers and other government personnel reporting for work during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The same order states that “private hospitals and other facilities are strongly encouraged” to provide similar benefits to their frontliners.
President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of calamity amid rising cases of coronavirus infections in the country. Most residents in Luzon are ordered to stay home under an enhanced community quarantine, except healthcare workers and other frontliners engaged in basic services. Other areas in the country have enforced their own lockdowns.
More than 200 doctors and nurses have tested positive for COVID-19, the Department of Health said last week, adding that 12 have succumbed to the viral illness. The Philippine Medical Association has reported a higher number, saying 17 doctors have died of COVID-19. It said they contracted the disease due to the shortage of personal protective equipment.
The government has since procured more protective gear for health workers, augmented by generous donations from the private sector.
Nationwide, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 5,453, with 353 recoveries and 349 deaths.
