(MALAYA) SEN. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada has filed a proposed measure seeking to give duly-appointed barangay watchmen a monthly hazard pay due to the “hazardous duty they perform in ensuring peace and order in the community.”
Senate Bill No. 796 that he filed in August last year proposes the grant of P1,000 per month in hazard pay to all duly-appointed members of barangay tanod brigades. It is still pending at the committee level.
Funding for the hazard pay shall initially be sourced from the budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government while its subsequent implementation will be included in the budgets of local government units.
He said barangay watchmen deserve the hazard pay since they are only given monthly allowances of P600.
“Barangay tanod brigades are community workers that need protection. This proposed measure acknowledges their significant contribution in maintaining peace and order in their locality by providing them with incentives while they continue to carry out official tasks,” said Estrada, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development.
Estrada noted that barangay watchmen also served a frontliners at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As frontliners, they should receive adequate support and treatment from the government. There is no doubt that they deserve to be given such incentive,” he added.