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Sen. Hontiveros bats for hazard pay for frontline workers battling COVID-19

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/03/16/20200205-ncov-ospital-ng-paranaque-jc-4905.jpg"/><figcaption>A nurse shows the basic hospital at an nCoV holding area on February 05, 2020 at the Ospital ng Paranaque. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday urged companies and government agencies to grant hazard pay to workers directly involved in efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.Health workers, military and police personnel, and other &quot;frontliners&quot; in the Philippines&#x27; fight to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) should be entitled to hazard pay, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said in a statement.&quot;Hindi lang dagdag face masks at protective wear ang kailangan ng ating mga health professionals at ibang frontliners laban sa COVID-19. Kailangan din nila ng dagdag takehome pay na naayon sa matinding pagod at panganib na kanilang iniinda at hinaharap,&quot; she said.(Face masks and protective wear are not the only things needed by our health professionals and other frontliners in the fight against the COVID-19. They also need additional takehome pay that will compensate the immense exhaustion and danger they face.)&quot;Let us thank and help them by making sure they receive the proper compensation due their efforts,&quot; she said.Companies must &quot;take the initiative in providing additional pay,&quot; Hontiveros said, citing a provision in Republic Act 7305 or the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers.Under the law, &quot;doctors, nurses and other health workers in the public sector whose work exposes them to danger, occupational risks and perils to life must receive an additional hazard pay which can be as high as 25 percent of their monthly basic salary, depending on their pay grade,&quot; she said.Security guards, bank tellers, shopping attendants, cashiers, media workers, restaurant waiters and other employees whose work expose them to greater risk of being infected with COVID-19 should also be entitled to hazard pay, Hontiveros said.&quot;Without our underappreciated security guards, shopping attendants, cashiers and other workers providing basic services, life in the metro as we know it would grind to a halt,&quot; she said.These workers, she said, &quot;help preserve some sense of normalcy in our communities.&quot;Metro Manila and other areas in the Philippines have been placed under community quarantine, to last for as long as a month, as government tries to quell the spread of the virus that originated from Wuhan, China.As of March 16, the Philippines has recorded 140 cases of COVID-19, including 12 fatalities and two who have recovered. The rest remain confined in hospitals.The World Health Organization described COVID-19 as a pandemic, infecting over 150,000 people and leaving nearly 6,000 dead worldwide, mainly in China.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday urged companies and government agencies to grant hazard pay to workers directly involved in efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday urged companies and government agencies to grant hazard pay to workers directly involved in efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Sen. Hontiveros bats for hazard pay for frontline workers battling COVID-19

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Sen. Hontiveros bats for hazard pay for frontline workers battling COVID-19

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 16, 2020 02:22 PM PHT

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COVID-19

coronavirus

health workers

AFP

PNP

13th month

Risa Hontiveros

Senate

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