Health workers' petition premature, says City Legal Officer
ROXAS CITY – City Legal Officer Atty. Nap Oducado said that the petition filed by health workers demanding for the payment of hazard pay is premature.
Atty. Oducado in a comment filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 16 said the demand for the full payment of hazard allowance is premature as it is not clear legal right for all the petitioners to be entitled thereto because Sec. 21 of RA 7305 enumerates the health workers failed to show in the instant case that they are eligible pursuant to the implementing rules of the law.
“In addition to the absence of clear legal right that all the petitioners are entitled to hazard allowance demanded, appropriating funds depends on the availability of funds and the is no available fund therefore,” Oducado stated.
Oducado cited Sec. 7 that all public health workers covered RA 7305 are eligible to receive hazard pay when the nature of their work exposes them to high risk/low hazards for at least 50% of their working hours as approved by the Sec. of Health or his authorized representative.
Earlier, some 102 city health workers asked the city government to pay them a total of P241,447,760.89 as an obligation mandated by RA 7305 or the Magna Carta of public health workers which mandates Local Government Units (LGUs) to pay the hazard allowances due them.