Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ________ 
Introduced by Lone District of Agusan del Norte Representative 
HON. DALE B. CORVERA 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR A FIVE-DAY SPECIAL EMERGENCY LEAVE FOR ALL 
WORKERS IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS DIRECTLY 
AFFECTED BY NATURAL CALAMITIES OR DISASTERS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Based on the World Risk Index 2022, the Philippines has been ranked as the most 
affected country by extreme weather events. The World Risk Index is a tool used to assess and 
estimate the disaster risk of a country, using both external and internal hazard factors, including 
cyclones, floods, droughts, sea level rise and societal conditions. Thus, Filipinos, especially 
whose main source of income are wages, are very prone to succumb to the devastating and 
debilitating effects of natural calamities or disasters. 
It is a declared policy under Section 18, Article II of the Constitution that the State 
affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and 
promote their welfare. 
This proposed measure aims to provide employees in both the public and the private 
sectors with five-day special emergency leave with pay, to minimize the impact of natural 
calamities and disasters on their income and well-being. It aims to help individuals and families 
whose homes are damaged, flooded, or destroyed by typhoons, earthquakes, storm surges, or 
flooding to immediately cope up and recover. 
In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
DALE B. CORVERA 
Representative 
Lone District of Agusan del Norte 
July 1, 2025
5:55 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ________ 
Introduced by Lone District of Agusan del Norte Representative 
HON. DALE B. CORVERA 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR A FIVE-DAY SPECIAL EMERGENCY LEAVE FOR ALL 
WORKERS IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS DIRECTLY 
AFFECTED BY NATURAL CALAMITIES OR DISASTERS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Calamity Leave Law”. 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is a declared policy that the State shall protect the 
rights of workers and promote their welfare. In compliance therewith, it is of utmost importance 
that workers and their right to safe and healthful working conditions must always be upheld. 
Towards this end, and consistent with legal instruments that protect and promote the 
rights of the workers, the State shall institutionalize a mechanism to grant special emergency 
leave to employees affected by natural calamities/disasters. Labor, as a primary social 
economic force, shall be given the protection that the exigencies of time and circumstances 
mandate.  
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. – For the purposes of this Act, the following shall refer 
to: 
(a) “Calamity” – an event involving mass casualty and/or major damages to property,
disruption of means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people in the
affected areas as a result of the occurrence of natural or human-induced hazard;
(b) “Disaster” – a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society
involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and
impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope
using its own resources. Disasters are often described as a result of the combination
of: the exposure to a hazard; the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and
insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative
consequences, Disaster impacts may include loss of life, injury, disease and other
negative effects on human, physical, mental and social well-being, together with
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damage to property, destruction of assets, loss of services, Social and economic 
disruption and environmental degradation; 
 
(c) “State of Calamity” – a condition involving mass casualty and/or major damages to 
property, disruption of means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people 
in the affected areas as a result of the occurrence of natural or human-induced 
hazard. 
 
SEC. 4. Applicability. – All rights and benefits granted to employees under this Act 
apply to all official, workers, and employees, whether in the public or private sector.  
 
SEC. 5. Exemption – This Act shall not apply to government workers or employees 
whose functions involve the delivery of basic and health services, preparedness/response to 
natural disasters and calamities, and/or the performance of other vital services. 
 
This provision shall also not apply to those who are already enjoying the benefit herein 
provided, regardless of nomenclature; those enjoying similar emergency leave of at least five 
days in times of natural calamities or disasters or personal emergencies; and those employed 
in establishments regularly employing less than ten (10) employees or in establishments 
exempted from granting this benefit by the Secretary of Labor and Employment after 
considering the viability of such establishment 
 
SEC. 6. Calamity Leave. – Every employee who has rendered at least six (6) months 
of service shall be entitled to a pro-rated yearly calamity leave of five days with pay, available 
on any of the grounds specified in Section 8 of this Act; 
 
SEC. 7. Grant of Calamity Leave. – The five-day Calamity Leave with pay shall be 
available upon the declaration of a state of calamity by the President of the Philippines or by 
the Local Sanggunian under Section 16 or Republic Act No. 10121, otherwise known as the 
“Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010”, affecting either the place 
of residence of the employee, the employee’s place of work, or the place where the employee 
regularly passes through to get to work. 
 
However, in case a specific area was not declared under a state of calamity but was 
nonetheless severely affected by the natural calamity or disaster, the head of office or employer, 
in the exercise of his/her sound discretion, may grant the calamity leave to an affected 
employee, based on proof or evidence presented or verified news account. 
 
The calamity leave can be applied for five straight working days or on a staggered basis 
and shall not be deducted from the employee’s leave credits. This leave may be availed of by 
employees within ten (10) days from the date when the natural calamity or disaster occurred. 
 
SEC. 8. Purpose of the Calamity Leave. – Any qualified employee may avail of this 
special emergency leave on any of the following grounds: 
 
(a) Being stranded in affected areas where no means of transportation can ensure safe 
travel to and from work; 
 
(b) Disease, illness, or injury incurred by the employee due to the occurrence of the 
calamity or disaster; 


 
(c) Caring for immediate family members affected by calamity or disaster; and 
 
(d) Urgent repair and clean-up of the damaged dwelling place. 
 
SEC. 9. Verification and Validation. – The granting of the calamity leave shall be the 
duty of the head of office or the employer upon verification of the employee’s eligibility 
thereto. In determining the eligibility of an employee for the leave, the head of office or the 
employer shall the following into consideration: 
 
(a) Place of residence of the affected employee based on the latest available records; 
 
(b) Declaration of a state of calamity by the proper authorities; 
 
(c) Medical certificate stating that the illness, disease or injury was suffered by the 
employee or his/her immediate family member as a consequence of the natural 
calamity or disaster; 
 
(d) Availability of and access to public transportation on the day of the natural calamity 
or disaster; 
 
(e) Road closure due to the natural calamity or disaster along the route taken and could 
be taken by the employee to an from work; and 
 
(f) Other matters that may aid the head of office or the employer in his decision on the 
eligibility of the employee to avail of the said grant. 
 
The head of office or the employer may require the employee availing the calamity 
leave to submit a notarized affidavit stating among others, the ground availed of under Section 
8 of this Act within a reasonable time upon return of the employee to work. The head of office 
or the employer shall reimburse the employee of the costs the latter incurred to secure the 
notarized affidavit. 
 
SEC. 10. Suspension or Cancellation of Work. – If for any reason, work has been 
suspended or cancelled by the head of office, employer or any proper authority, the employee 
may not be required to apply for the special emergency leave during such suspension or 
cancellation.  
 
Any approved calamity leave covering the day when work has been suspended or 
cancelled shall be automatically revoked and shall not be deducted against the employee’s 
remaining calamity leaves. 
 
SEC. 11. Non-cumulative and Non-commutative. – Unused leaves under this Act shall 
not be cumulative and may not be converted into its cash equivalent. 
 
SEC. 12. Non-diminution of Benefit. – Benefits granted under this Act shall not in any 
manner mean any reduction, diminution, discontinuation, or elimination of other existing 
benefits already enjoyed by workers. Rights already vested before the effectivity of this Act 
shall remain to be in full force and effect upon the passage of this Act. 


 
SEC. 13. Construction in favor of labor. – All doubts in the interpretation and 
implementation of the provision of this Act shall be resolved in favor of labor. 
 
SEC. 14. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days upon the 
effectivity of this Act, the Department of Labor and Employment, in consultation with other 
concerned agencies of the government, shall formulate the necessary rules and regulations 
implementing the provisions of this Act.  
 
SEC. 15. Separability Clause. – If, for any reason, any section, clause or term of this 
Act is held to be illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such parts not affected by such declaration 
shall remain in full force and effect. 
 
SEC. 16. Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential decrees, issuances, executive 
orders, letters of instruction, rules, and regulations inconsistent with the provisions of this Act 
are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
 
SEC. 17. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,