MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Employees of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) are set to receive in advance their salaries amid the enforcement of an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon due to the spread of coronavirus disease (CoVID-19).
This move is in adherence to the appeal of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to employers to provide their workers with continued income during the period of the enhanced community quarantine. The President placed the whole of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine on Monday, 16 March 2020. It will be enforced until 14 April 2020.
According to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, this initiative is a way of showing DOTr employees that the DOTr management cares for, and empathizes with them in this time of need.
“This is our way of showing solidarity with our workers during these tough times. Some of our employees are even working round-the-clock as transportation concerns remain vital and on top of the matter. This is our way of showing that we care for them and their loved ones until such time we altogether put an end to this CoVID-19 crisis,” DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said.
During the enhanced community quarantine period, households are ordered to follow strict quarantine protocols, mass public transportation is suspended, provision of food and essential health services is regulated, and the presence of uniformed personnel is enforced.
To help cope with the crisis, the DOTr has announced that it will be releasing the pay of their employees in advance.
In a message, DOTr Undersecretary for Finance Garry de Guzman confirmed that his office has started to release the salaries of permanent employees on Tuesday, 17 March 2020, to cover the period of the second half of March.
Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (COS) workers of the DOTr meanwhile, will also have their salaries released in advance for the month of March, after the submission of their respective heads of the certified list of JOs and COs who were hired and have rendered service during the period covered.
In addition, Usec. De Guzman said the Department is also working on the release of the employees’ 13th month pay, in close coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“We are closely working with DBM on this matter. We have already processed in advance the paper work for eventual release should DBM give their guidelines and go signal,” Usec. De Guzman has assured.
According to the guidelines of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the 13th month pay is equivalent to one-twelfth of an employee’s basic salary earned within a calendar year.
