20 MARCH 2020, MANILA—Taking the cue from the President's pronouncement to mitigate the effect of the Luzon-wide quarantine to workers, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has released in advance the month’s salary of its employees including that of its Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (CoS) personnel.
PPA has likewise made representations with the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) for the earlier than May 15 grant of the employees' Mid-year bonus to provide them and their families adequate financial security and to further mitigate any adverse effect of the ongoing community quarantine being implemented in various ports nationwide. The port agency has also requested the JO service providers to release/ pay the pro-rated 13th month pay benefit of all its outsourced personnel.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago relayed the good news to all its personnel through the different Responsibility Center Heads in order to further cascade the positive development to all its employees nationwide.
“The advance implementation of the early grant of the Mid-Year Bonus aims to further provide PPA employees and their families health protection and financial security while the various community quarantine is ongoing,” Santiago said.
As of the moment, PPA is also set to provide additional benefit to all its frontline personnel reporting for work in the midst of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) by virtue of the Joint Circular No. 1-2020 released by the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit on 19 March 2020.
The circular allows the release of salaries of JOs and CoS who won’t be able to report for work due to the ECQ and likewise provide for hazard pay for those who will be able to physically report for work as part of the skeletal force for the entire duration of the quarantine period as well as other benefits as maybe authorized by the President.
The PPA is maintaining a skeletal workforce across all its offices and terminals nationwide in order not to disrupt the flow of goods in the local trade and those going to the international market.
All its 25 Port Management Offices with several smaller ports under their jurisdiction are operating normally since the first implementation of the General Community Quarantine. However, majority of its processes were reduced to cargo operations in compliance with the Social Distancing program being strictly implemented by the Government in order to prevent further human transmission of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease.
Aside from PPA, the Department of Transportation where PPA is an attached agency, is likewise extending the same initiative to its entire personnel.
“The welfare of our personnel is utmost to us and providing for their health and financial security is incomparable to their duty in maintaining the smooth flow of the entire Philippine supply chain to guarantee the adequate supply and to meet the demand of the entire archipelago,” Santiago said.
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