By Jhon Aldrin Casinas Aside from the recognition and praise, the Pasig City Government has allocated more than P222 million for its health workers fighting in the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto
(KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU / MANILA BULLETIN) Mayor Vico Sotto said the City Council has passed an ordinance allotting P222.6 million for the special benefits of the city’s health workers amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) In a Facebook live on Thursday, Sotto announced that Pasig’s health workers will receive a daily hazard pay of P500. “They deserve this COVID hazard pay na 500 per day,” he noted. Aside from this, frontline health workers who worked full-time during the quarantine period will also receive a “special risk allowance” equivalent to 25 percent of their monthly salary. “At the end of the quarantine period, health workers who have worked full time during the quarantine period will receive 25 percent of their monthly salary,” Sotto said. “In total, that’s P222 million for our frontline health workers,” he added. The mayor said such benefits were in accordance with Administrative Order No. 26 of President Duterte. Although the local government has provided personal protective equipment (PPE) to the city’s health workers to minimize their risk of being infected, he said that the threat of the disease remains. “To tell you the truth, you deserve more. But for now, this is what our local government could afford,” Sotto told the health workers. Mayor Sotto hopes the frontliners will appreciate what city officials are doing for them. “What’s happening now with COVID-19, we know that this is a crisis but, this is not only a medical crisis but also a socio-economic crisis which effects will last for a long time,” Sotto said. #