MEMORANDUM FROM THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

TO : HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, OFFICES, AND INSTRUMENTALITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT, GOVERNMENT-OWNED OR -CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS (GOCCs), GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (GFIs), AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs)

SUBJECT : IMPLEMENTATION OF TEMPORARY EMERGENCY MEASURES UNDER REPUBLIC ACT (RA) NO. 11469, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BAYANIHAN TO HEAL AS ONE ACT

DATE : 28 MARCH 2020

In view of the enactment of RA No. 11469 on 24 March 2020 [published on 25 March 2020 in Manila Bulletin], which granted the President powers and authorities necessary to carry out urgent measures to meet the COVID-19 national health emergency, the government now has greater means to supplement, expand, improve, and intensify existing COVID-19 responses and preventive measures, and to further mitigate the social, economic, and financial impact of COVID-19 on all Filipinos.

To achieve our aim of overcoming this present threat, the simultaneous government efforts on different fronts must be cohesive and harmonious. Thus, the whole of government must work together towards the following objectives: protect and support our. health workers and front liners; provide the supplies and equipment necessary for detecting the disease and caring for those infected; ensure that community quarantines are effectively implemented; deliver essential necessities such as food and medicine to the most vulnerable; keep essential and critical utilities and businesses running and their processes uninterrrupted; provide temporary economic relief to Filipinos and businesses; and, mobilize all state assets to sustain the operations of the government.

As such, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte hereby authorizes the following officials to do the following acts:

A. The Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH), to implement the following:

1. Following World Health Organization guidelines and best practices, adopt and implement measures to prevent or suppress further transmission and spread of COVID-19 through effective education, detection, protection, and treatment. He may consult the Presidential Communications Operations Office, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology as he deems fit to craft the details of or implement the measures;

2. Expedite and streamline the accreditation of testing kits and facilitate prompt testing by public and designated private institutions of PUIs [persons under investigation] and PUMs [persons under monitoring], and the compulsory and immediate isolation and treatment of patients;

3. In coordination with the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), ensure that all public health workers are protected by providing them with a “COVID-19 special special risk allowance.” In addition to the hazard pay granted under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers or RA No. 7305;

4. Provide compensation of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00) to public and private health workers who may contract severe COVID-19 infection while in the line of duty, and a compensation of One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00) to the families of public and private health workers, who may die while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. This benefit has a retroactive application from 01 February 2020. In implementing this, he must coordinate with the DBM and may also seek assistance of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to verify the qualifications of any beneficiary. 

5. In allocating and distributing goods, supplies, and other resources procured under the authority granted in RA No. 11469, he must prioritize the following:

• i. public health facilities in the regions, provinces, or cities, that are designated as COVID-19 referral hospitals, such as but not limited to the Philippine General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, and Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital;

• ii. private hospitals which have existing capacities to provide support care and treatment to COVID-19 patients; and

• iii. public and private laboratories that have existing capacities to test suspected COVID-19 patients; and

6. Engage temporary Human Resources for Health (HRH) such as medical and allied medical staff to complement or supplement the current health workforce or to man the temporary medical facilities to be established in accordance with Section 4 k(4) of RA No. 11469. The HRH to be hired on temporary basis shall receive the appropriate compensation and allowances and those of them serving at the front lines during the state of calamity due to COVID-19 shall receive an actual hazard duty pay from the government. In crafting the details of and implementing this measure, he shall coordinate with the DBM.