THE Commission on Audit has granted the claim of the Unyon ng mga Kawal ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan Sentral (UKKKS) for payment of 11 percent hazard pay differentials for low-level employees of the Department of Health with salary grade 19 or lower.
In a decision released last week, the COA said claimant public health workers (PHWs) are entitled to the remuneration because their benefits were unlawfully reduced with the issuance and implementation of Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2012 by the DOH and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
UKKKS pegged the claim at P25.79 million but the COA said the amount will still have to be confirmed by the accountants of the DOH and reviewed by the audit team leader and the supervising auditor — DOH.
Covered by the COA ruling are calendar years 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Dr. Clarito Cairo Jr., UKKKS president, filed the petition for money claim with the COA in 2016 invoking RA 7305 or the Magna carta for Public Health Workers which set the hazard pay at 25 percent of the workers’ monthly basic salary.
He argued that Item 7.2 of the DBM-DOH joint circular diminished the workers’ hazard pay from 25 percent to just 14 percent of the monthly basic pay.
The Philippine Public Health Association Inc. challenged the legality of the joint circular before the Supreme Court resulting in the nullification of the entire Item 7.2 of the DBM-DOH Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2012.
The DOH interposed no objection to the UKKKS claim of 11 percent hazard pay differential and the P25,788,505.69 amount cited.
