NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE 
S. B. NO. 578
Senate
V ’ 
o( HH’ i'tiflt'J1
72 JUL 14 A10 53
RECEIVED BY:
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT GRANTING HAZARD PAY TO COVERED EMPLOYEES OF 
THE GOVERNMENT AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
EXPLANATORY NOTE
COVID-19 was declared by the World Health Organization as a public health 
emergency of international concern as early as January 30, 2020.
Meanwhile, due to the increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in the 
Philippines, the country was placed under enhanced community quarantine as of 
midnight of March 17, 2020. However, even while most people are advised to stay 
home, several workers in the government were still required to go to work to ensure 
that government services continue. But despite the increased risk to their lives, no 
appropriate additional compensation was given to them.
This bill seeks to recognize the hard work and the invaluable service rendered 
by our government workers by mandating the payment of hazard pay to frontline 
government workers, in cases where they are assigned to areas, such as, but not 
limited, to hazardous, isolated and inaccessible environment, x-ray units, institutions 
that care for the users of mental health services, places that are subject to depredation 
by criminal elements, plants and installation of arsenal, aboard aircrafts and 
watercrafts in crossing bodies of water and other similar areas.
Given the extraordinary and invaluable service of these workers in critical times, 
such as what we are facing today with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is just and right that 
we give them proper benefits.
Thus, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought
■(f)
SENATOR JGEL VILLANUEVA


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE 
S. B. NO. 578
Senate
of till'
•22 JUL14 A10 53
RECEIVED m':
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT GRANTING HAZARD PAY TO COVERED EMPLOYEES OF 
THE GOVERNMENT AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
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SECTION. 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Hazard Pay for 
Government Employees Act.”
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State 
to protect and promote the welfare of public servants by providing them with additional 
compensation taking into account the nature of their responsibilities and exposure to 
hazard or possible dangers attendant to the position they are occupying and the 
functions of their office.
SEC. 3. Coverage. - The benefits provided under this Act shall be given to all 
government employees who are exposed to the conditions identified in Section 4 of 
this Act, regardless of status, nature of appointment, whether casual, temporary, 
contract of service (institutional or otherwise), or job order, or place of work (whether 
in medical or non-medical offices): Provided, That government employees currently 
receiving hazard pay under other laws, rules or regulations shall only be entitled to 
one (1) hazard pay or benefit, whichever is higher.
SEC. 4. Hazard Pay. - All employees of the Government shall be paid hazard 
pay equivalent to at least twenty five percent (25%) of the monthly basic salary of the 
employee concerned when stationed or assigned to work as frontline workers in or 
under the following circumstances or conditions;
(a) When a state of calamity or emergency or a public health emergency, as defined 
under Republic Act No. 11332, otherwise known as the Mandatory Reporting of


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Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern, has been 
declared;
(b) 
Hazardous or less hazardous areas, as may be declared by the Secretary of 
National Defense and other appropriate agencies;
(c) 
Difficult areas or hardship posts characterized by distance, inconvenience of 
travel due to bad roads and conditions of the terrain, isolation, inaccessibility, 
and extreme weather conditions;
(d) 
X-ray units, clinics, laboratories, sanitaria, leprosaria, observation posts and 
other similar stations which offer risks to health and safety due to exposure to 
radiation, contagious diseases and, volcanic activity;
(e) 
Institutions or facilities that tend or care for persons with mental health conditions;
(f) 
Places that are subject to depredation by criminal elements as those in prison 
reservations and penal colonies without adequate police protection;
(g) 
Plants and installations of the arsenal;
(h) 
Aboard aircraft and watercraft in crossing bodies of water; and
(i) 
Other similar work conditions which the Department of Budget and Management 
(DBM), in consultation with the Office of Civil Defense and the Civil Service 
Commission and other appropriate agencies, shall consider as hazardous on the 
basis of exposure to environment, health and social risks.
SEC. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (60) days from 
the effectivity of this Act, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in coordination with the 
Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and 
other relevant government offices, shall formulate the rules and regulations to 
effectively implement the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 6. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the effective 
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the appropriations of government 
agencies where the covered government employees are employed. Thereafter, the 
funds for the effective implementation of this Act shall be included in the General 
Appropriations Act (GAA).
SEC. 7. Separability Clause. - Any portion or provisions of this Act that may 
be declared unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying other 
portions and provisions hereof as long as such remaining portions or provisions can 
still subsist and be given effect in their entirety.
SEC. 8. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
proclamations and administrative regulations, or any parts thereof inconsistent with 
the provisions of this Act are hereby revoked, repealed or modified accordingly.


SEC. 9. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation.
Approved,