Department of Budget and Management(DBM-)

August 6, 2020 Dear Anjo Ellis Padilla, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated August 3, 2020 under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch regarding the COVID-19 Hazard Pay during the implementation of Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). Please be informed that section 2 (b) of Administrative Order No. 26 provides that heads of government agencies may grant COVID-19 Hazard Pay to their personnel provided that they have been authorized to physically report for work at their respective offices or work stations on the prescribed official working hours by the head of the agency or office during the period of implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) measures in the area of such office or working station. Hence, the grant of COVID-19 Hazard Pay is limited to areas which are under ECQ. However, Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea in his Memorandum to the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management dated May 5, 2020, said that AO 26 already covers all areas in the country that are under a localized quarantine, regardless of nomenclature, where the measures being implemented by the LGU: -actually characterized an ECQ, i.e. strict home quarantine is implemented, transportation is suspended, provision for food and essential health services is regulated, and there is a heightened presence of uniformed personnel enforcing quarantine procedures; and -were imposed by the LGU in accordance with the guidelines set by the National Government specifically by the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases, the Department of Health and/or Department of Interior and Local Government. Thus, government personnel and public health workers working or stationed in said areas may continue to be granted COVID-19 Hazard Pay subject to the conditions under AO No. 26 and Budget Circular 2020-1, the implementing guidelines on the grant of COVID-19 Hazard Pay. Also, as emphasized in the said Memorandum, LGUs under localized community quarantine which are less stringent or restrictive than the ECQ are excluded from the coverage of said AO, on the premise that these areas do not pose as much hazards and risks to workers, as the areas under ECQ. We hope we have clarified the issue raised. Thank you. Respectfully, Adoracion Q. Mangalino FOI Receiving Officer