Authorizing the Grant of Duty Allowance to Government Personnel Who Volunteer for Deployment to the COVID-19 Mega Swabbing Facilities

June 15, 2020

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 31

AUTHORIZING THE GRANT OF DUTY ALLOWANCE TO GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL WHO VOLUNTEER FOR DEPLOYMENT TO THE COVID-19 MEGA SWABBING FACILITIES

WHEREAS, Proclamation No. 922 (s. 2020) declared a State of Public Health Emergency throughout the Philippines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and enjoined all government agencies and local government units (LGUs) to render full assistance and cooperation with each other and mobilize the necessary resources to address the COVID-19 situation;

WHEREAS, Proclamation No. 929 (s. 2020) declared a State of Calamity in the entire country for a period of six (6) months, and imposed an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) over the whole of Luzon beginning 17 March 2020 to 12 April 2020, which was thereafter extended until 30 April 2020;

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 112 (s. 2020) further extended the ECQ in the National Capital Region (NCR), imposed an ECQ in other high risk geographic areas and a General Community Quarantine (GCQ) in all other areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao until 15 May 2020, and authorized the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to impose, lift or extend a community quarantine in any province, highly-urbanized city or independent component city in the country after 15 May 2020;

WHEREAS,as part of the national strategy to manage the current pandemic by increasing the government's COVID-19 testing capacity, the IATF approved the establishment and operation of four (4) Mega Swabbing Facilities (MSFs) in the Enderun Colleges in Taguig City, Philippine Arena in Bulacan, Mall of Asia in Pasay City and Palacio de Maynila in Manila;

WHEREAS,in response to the call for volunteers, a number of government personnel have been enlisted to work in the MSFs and other designated COVID-19 swabbing and test results processing facilities, where exposure to health risks is an occupational hazard; and

WHEREAS, paragraph 4 (g [x]) of Congressional Joint Resolution No. 4 (s. 2009) authorizes the grant of allowances and benefits to employees across agencies under specific conditions and situations related to the actual performance of work, subject to prescribed rates, guidelines and regulations, as may be determined by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM);

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE,President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Grant of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance.— National government agencies (NGAs) and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) are hereby authorized to grant their respective volunteer personnel who are deployed for work in the MSFs and other designated swabbing and test results processing facilities, located in areas under any form of ECQ or GCQ, a COVID-19 Duty Allowance in an amount not exceeding the sum of P500 per day plus a maximum of 25% of monthly basic salary (MBS) per person.

The grant of P500 per day per person shall be computed as follows:

 

P500

x

number of days deployed in the designated

 

Meanwhile, the maximum of 25% of MBS per person shall be pro-rated based on the number of days that a government personnel is deployed in the designated facility during the quarantine period as follows:

 

No. of Days Deployed	Percentage of the Incentive
3 to 7	25%
8 to 12	50%
13 to 17	75%
18 or more	100%

 

Personnel who are already entitled to Hazard Pay, including the COVID-19 Hazard Pay under Administrative Order (AO) No. 26 (s. 2020), Hazardous Duty Pay, Hazard Allowance, Special Risk Allowance under AO No. 28 (s. 2020), or other similar benefits under existing laws, issuances, rules and regulations, or any combination thereof, such as public health workers, public social workers, science and technology personnel and military and uniformed personnel, shall continue to be entitled to such benefits, or the COVID-19 Duty Allowance, whichever is higher.

The period within which the government personnel shall be required to undergo mandatory quarantine after their respective deployment to the MSFs or other swabbing or test results processing facilities, pursuant to approved protocols, shall be on official time.

SECTION 2. Conditions on the Grant of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance.— The heads of government agencies may grant the COVID-19 Duty Allowance to their volunteer personnel without need of further approval by the DBM, provided that the following conditions are met:

a. The personnel are occupying regular, contractual or casual positions, or engaged through contract of service (COS),job order (JO) or other similar schemes;

b. The personnel have been deployed in the MSFs or other swabbing or test results processing facilities on the prescribed official working hours by the head of agency or office during the period of implementation of any form of ECQ or GCQ in the location of such MSFs or designated swabbing and test results processing facilities; and

c. The rate of the Duty Allowance shall be based on the number of days an employee is deployed for work or the requisite training, as certified by the head of the designated facility or the supervising officer of such work station.

SECTION 3. Fund Sources of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance.— The funds needed for the grant of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance to qualified personnel shall be charged against the following sources:

a. For NGAs, the amount required for personnel occupying regular, contractual or casual positions shall be charged against their available released Personnel Services (PS) allotments, while the amount required for COS or JO workers shall be charged against their available released Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) allotments, without need for prior authority from the DBM, provided that all authorized mandatory expenses shall have been paid first. Should an NGA have insufficient PS or MOOE allotments, as the case may be, to cover the full amount of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance, a lower but uniform rate may be granted; and

b. For GOCCs, the amount required shall be charged against their respective approved corporate operating budgets for Fiscal Year 2020. Should a GOCC have insufficient funds to cover the full amount of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance, a lower but uniform rate may be granted.

SECTION 4. Guidelines on the Grant of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance.— As may be necessary, the DBM shall issue supplemental guidelines for the effective implementation of this Order.

SECTION 5. Retroactivity.— The grant of the COVID-19 Duty Allowance shall be effective from the beginning of operations of MSFs and other designated swabbing and test results processing facilities.

SECTION 6. Separability.— If any provision of this Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 7. Repeal.— All issuances, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 8. Effectivity.— This Order shall take effect immediately following its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 15th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty.

 

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 116, No. 27, p. 4528 on July 6, 2020.