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DILG to probe alleged reduction of hazard pay of deceased Cainta health worker


The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) vowed Thursday to probe the supposed reduction of hazard pay of a health worker, who recently died due to COVID-19, in Cainta, Rizal.

In a press statement, DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the local government of Cainta needs to explain why it allegedly reduced the hazard pay of Ma. Theresa Cruz, a nurse in Cainta Municipal Hospital.

Malaya said local officials must also answer why there was undue delay in the release of the hazard pay and why Cruz was supposedly not subjected to a swab test after she had close contact with a COVID-19 patient.

This came after the post of Cruz's daughter has gone viral as she lamented that instead of the expected more than P30,000 hazard pay, her mother only received P7,000.

“Apparently, the COVID hazard pay of the nurses in their public hospital has been reduced to just P150 per day and on top of it were deductions that were not even properly explained by the hospital administration. In the end, it appears my mom was only given P64.18 per day for her COVID hazard pay for 41 days,” she said in her post.

A few months before my mom passed away, she's been telling me about how long she and her co-nurses had been waiting for...

Posted by Joie Cruz on Tuesday, August 11, 2020

 

Malaya said the Cruz family already received the special risk allowance under the Bayanihan Act which corresponds to a maximum of 25% of the health worker's monthly salary but it is still unclear why the LGU reduced her hazard pay from P500 to P64.18 per day.

“Cainta is a first class municipality so I see no reason why it could not afford to pay the P500/day hazard pay granted to all health workers during this global pandemic,” he said.

Malaya noted the DILG and the Department of Health would ensure that the Cruz family would receive the P1 million compensation for health workers who died in the line of duty provided in the Bayanihan Act.

“We will ensure that her family receives all the benefits provided under the law. This is the least we can do to honor her service to the Municipality of Cainta where she worked in its LGU-run public hospital for more than 10 years - the first 4 years of those without any salary,” Malaya said.

GMA News Online has reached out to Cainta Mayor Johnielle Keith Nieto for comment on the matter. —AOL, GMA News
 

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