Increasing Employees' Compensation Benefits in the Private Sector and Carer's Allowance in the Public Sector

May 8, 2018

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 54

INCREASING EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION BENEFITS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND CARER'S ALLOWANCE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

WHEREAS,under the 1987 Constitution, the State affirms labor as a primary social economic force and undertakes to protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare;

WHEREAS,there is a need to continually improve benefits under the Employees' Compensation Program (ECP) to make them more responsive to the welfare and development needs of occupationally disabled workers;

WHEREAS, pursuant to Article 177 (e) of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 626 (s. 1974), as amended, the Employees' Compensation Commission (ECC) has the mandate to upgrade benefits for permanent disability or death, subject to the approval of the President, provided that the actuarial stability of the State Insurance Fund (SIF) shall be guaranteed and that such increases in benefits shall not require any increase in contributions;

WHEREAS, Letter of Instruction (LOI) No. 1286 (s. 1983) provides that every time the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) increase the monthly income benefits for non-work-related contingencies, such increases shall be automatically and simultaneously applicable to the monthly income benefits for employment-related contingencies under PD No. 626, as amended, so as to maintain the fifteen percent (15%) and twenty percent (20%) differentials for SSS and GSIS pensioners, respectively;

WHEREAS,in January 2017, the SSS increased its monthly income benefits to P1,000, and, in 1990, granted 100% entitlement to primary beneficiaries of deceased permanent total disability pensioners in the private sector;

WHEREAS,the results of the actuarial studies of the SSS and the GSIS show that the SIF can finance the increases without affecting the stability of the SIF and without requiring additional contributions; and

WHEREAS,the ECC, through separate Board Resolutions approved the increase in benefits herein set forth;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE,President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Employees' Compensation (EC) Permanent Disability Pension in the Private Sector. — A P1,150 across the board increase in EC monthly disability pension of all EC permanent disability pensioners and qualified beneficiaries in the public sector is approved, effective January 2017, pursuant to LOI 1286.

SECTION 2. Minimum Amount of EC Monthly Disability and Survivorship Pension.— The SSS shall continue to implement the minimum EC Monthly Disability and Survivorship pension in the private sector, which in no case shall be less than P2,000.

SECTION 3. Monthly Pension of Primary Beneficiaries of Deceased Permanent Total Disability (PTD) Pensioners in the Private Sector.— The SSS shall continue to grant the entitlement of primary beneficiaries of deceased PTD pensioners in the private sector from 80% to 100% of the PTD pensioner's monthly pension.

SECTION 4. Carer's Allowance in the Public and Private Sectors.— The amount of carer's allowance granted to EC permanent disability pensioners in the public and private sector is hereby increased from P575 to P1,000 per month.

SECTION 5. Reimbursement Rates of Professional Fees of Physicians.— The amount of reimbursement for professional fees of physicians under the EC medical benefits for employees in the private sector is hereby increased from:

	General Practitioner (in Philippine peso)	Specialist (in Philippine peso)
Initial visit	100	150
Succeeding visit	80	100

to the following:

General Practitioner (in Philippine peso)

Specialist (in Philippine peso)

A. Daily Ward Visits

Per Day	400	600
Maximum Per Confinement	1,600	2,400
B. ICU/CCU Ward
Per Day	800	1,200
Maximum Per Confinement	3,200	4,800

C. Out-patient Consultation

Per consultation

400

600

D. Consultation for pre-procedure medical evaluation (Out-patient and In-patient)

Routine (Per pre-procedure medical evaluation)	800	1,200
With Medical Indication (Per pre-procedure medical evaluation)	1,200	1,400
E. Intra-operative Monitoring	1,200	1,400

SECTION 6. Reimbursement Rates for Physical Therapy Sessions.— The amount of reimbursement for physical therapy sessions under the EC medical benefits for employees in the private sector is hereby increased from P65 per session to a maximum of P500 per session.

SECTION 7. Temporary Total Disability Benefits (TTD) for the Private Sector.— The amount of EC TTD shall be increased from a minimum daily income benefit of P10 to P110 and from a maximum daily income benefit of P200 to P480.

SECTION 8. Appropriation and Release from the SIF.— The ECC, SSS and GSIS are hereby directed to appropriate and release the amounts necessary to cover the increase in benefits set forth in the preceding section from the reserves of the relevant SIF that the SSS and GSIS administer, respectively, under the ECP.

SECTION 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations.— The ECC shall issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement this Order. CAIHTE

SECTION 10. Repeal.— All executive orders, rules and regulations and other issuances or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Executive Order, are hereby revoked, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 11. Separability.— If any provision of this Executive Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SECTION 12. Effectivity.— This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 8th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Eighteen.

 

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 114, No. 21, p. 3701 on May 21, 2018.