A lawmaker on Friday pushed for the passage of the proposed Magna Carta for Public Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Workers, which aims to improve the working conditions and grant benefits to government personnel who often risk their lives to save others.
Parañaque Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan, author of House Bill (HB) 5239, cited the need for Congress to enact a measure that recognizes the valiant efforts of public DRRM workers to protect communities and help disaster victims recover from calamities.
He said DRRM workers, while exposing themselves to significant risks – including physical danger, psychological stress, and occupational health gaps, especially during disaster response operations – face the challenge of insufficient benefits.
“Our proposed measure seeks to address these inadequacies by institutionalizing measures that will promote their welfare,” Yamsuan said in a statement.
“Our DRRM workers have a very important job as disaster response and risk reduction frontliners, which is why we should also give importance to, and safeguard, their welfare. Providing them the benefits that they should be entitled to will serve as incentive and inspiration for them to continue with their profession as protectors of our communities from calamities,” he added.
Yamsuan’s HB 5239 proposes the grant of hazard allowance; access to protective equipment, free vaccinations, and other prophylactic medicines; and compensation for work-related injuries and illnesses for public DRRM workers.
A key feature of the bill is the creation of a Public DRRM Workers’ Education Trust Fund that will grant education assistance to children and dependents of DRRM workers who died in the line of duty. The benefit will cover primary, secondary, and tertiary education for a period of up to four years of undergraduate studies in accredited institutions.
