Labor coalition urges Duterte to certify Pandemic Leave Bill as urgent

A labor coalition over the weekend called on President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent the Pandemic Leave Bill, which provides a 14-day paid quarantine leave to workers, as this provided relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement on Sunday, the NAGKAISA Labor Coalition cited the need for the bill to be passed into law as cases continued to rise to record-highs a year into the lockdowns imposed in the Philippines.

"We hold that the adoption of a quarantine leave in times like a COVID-19 pandemic is the best thing for workers and businesses, and to keep all of us safe," Manuel Payao, chair of the Tade Federation 8, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) hospital and education unions, said.

"One can't save herself or himself alone in a pandemic, the House Labor Committee had already adopted a bill on quarantine leave, both houses of Congress need to take this seriously, with urgency and dispatch; and to emphasize that we don't want people to report for work sick," added Payao, who also serves as the president of the UERM Employees Union-FFW.

The House Committee on Labor and Development in December approved the measure seeking to mandate a 14-day paid pandemic leave for private-sector employees during a declared global pandemic. The measure is authored by the representatives from the Makabayan bloc.

In the same statement, NAGKAISA also pushed for the listing of COVID-19 as an occupational disease under the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC).

"If Covid-19 is successfully listed as an occupational disease, workers would not be asking for alms through mere assistance, we will be getting employees compensation for work days missed while battling Covid and trying to get better," said Vilma Garcia, president of the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute Employees Union-FFW.

Metro Manila and nearby provinces -- collectively tagged as NCR Plus -- will be under ECQ starting midnight March 29 until Sunday, April 4, 2021.

Before the announcement of the ECQ, the government banned the non-essential entry and exit into and out of the NCR Plus bubble during the same period. The bubble covers Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier said another two-week modified enhanced community quarantine -- one notch lower than the ECQ -- would bring about P2.1 billion daily losses, raise the number of hungry Filipinos by 58,000; and increase unemployed Filipinos by 128,500.

The latest quarantine measures were announced a year into the lockdowns in the Philippines, the world's longest lockdown.

On Sunday, the Philippines reported 9,475 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. This includes 105,568 active cases; 603,154 recoveries; and 13,170 deaths. — DVM, GMA News