Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 6657

Introduced by CIBAC Party-List Representatives
Eduardo “Bro. Eddie” C. Villanueva and Domingo C. Rivera

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. As of
4:00 PM of May 1, 2020, a total of 8,722 patients in the Philippines have been
confirmed positive with COVID-19,' and as of May 1, it has also infected
3,344,435 persons in 187 countries/regions all over the world.”

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 are
required to go to work to ensure that government services continue.

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 all 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

* COVID-19 Case Tracker. DOH. Available at https:/Iwww.doh.gov phicovid-19/case-tracker (date last accessed:
May 2, 2020).

2 Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases. Johns Hopkins University and Medicine. Available at
https//coronavirus.jhu.edu/map html (date last accessed: May 2, 2020).

1


services, places that are subject to depredation by criminal elements, plants
and installation of the 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.

a Len
HON. EDUARDO “BRO. EDDIE” C. VILLANUEV,

HO! IN » RIVERA


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS.
First Regular Session

House Bill No._6657

Introduced by CIBAC Party-List Representatives
Eduardo “Bro. Eddie” C. Villanueva and Domingo C. Rivera

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:

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 po: le dangers attendant to the position they are
occupying and the functions of their office.

SEC. 3. Coverage. — The benefits provided under this Act are payable to all
government employees who are exposed to the conditions identified in
Section 4 of this Act, regardless of their status, nature of their 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 such 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)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(9)

(h)

@

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 Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public
Health Concer, has been declared;

Hazardous or less hazardous areas, as may be declared by the
Secretary of National Defense and other appropriate agencies;

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;

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;

Institutions or facilities that tend or care for persons with mental health
conditions;

Places that are subject to depredation by criminal elements as those in
prison reservations and penal colonies without adequate police
protection;

Plants and installations of the arsenal;
Aboard aircraft and watercraft in crossing bodies of water; and

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 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 relative 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 at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation or in the
Official Gazette.

Approved,