The Department of Finance (DOF) has abandoned its headquarters and announced the activation of its emergency working arrangement “to ensure the continuity of its services to the public.”
In a statement, the DOF said its Manila office is on lockdown so it could be thoroughly disinfected as a precautionary measure to avoid the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
The emergency working arrangement provides for alternate locations where DOF groups can temporarily hold office during disasters and/or abnormal events such as the spread of Covid-19.
“Under these arrangements, the DOF Building is abandoned and DOF holds office in alternate offices,” the statement quoted Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez, who has gone under self-quarantine after learning he was exposed last week to a person who tested positive for Covid-19.
Dominguez was quoted as saying that the Policy Development and Management Services Group (PDMSG) headed by Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran will determine the number of critical employees that can be accommodated in each of the alternate offices.
All undersecretaries were ordered to identify the critical offices and employees under their respective groups, collate the contact information of those working under them and decide on how to issue instructions and receive outputs based on the facilities available to them.
The DOF said the PDMSG, its Domestic Finance Group and its Strategy, Economics, and Results Group will be located at the Social Security Office office in Makati City.
The Revenue Operations Group and Corporate Affairs Group will be located at the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) office in Manila while the Office of the Secretary will be located in the Landbank office in Makati City.
The other offices to be relocated include: International Finance Group, at the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) in Intramuros, Manila; Privatization Group, at the Philippine Guarantee Corp. office in Makati City; and, the Legal Services Group at the National Power Corp. office in Quezon City.
DOF-attached agencies that include, among others, the BTr and the Bureaus of Customs and of Internal Revenue “were ordered to thoroughly disinfect all their respective premises this weekend,” DOF statement said.
The BTr has announced that work will be suspended on Friday. National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon gave her assurance on Thursday that its operations—auctions, payments and investments—will continue through remote access.
De Leon said the BTr will have a rotating skeletal force in case of a prolonged lockdown.
We “have coordinated with Psalm [Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.] for temporary ‘war room’ and another one in our Pampanga regional office is being readied. Cash flow is more than adequate,” de Leon said.
Meanwhile, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said there are no pending shipments of face masks in any of the country’s ports.
Guerrero said, however, that the BOC has been expediting its processing of face mask shipments as well as other emergency supplies and goods. The retired Philippine Army general added that the BOC will also be disinfecting its offices over the weekend.
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Chairman Rolando L. Macasaet said that the state-run pension fund has locked down its premises in light of the lockdown implemented at the Philippine Senate.
Macasaet said the entire GSIS complex will be fumigated and disinfected until Friday.
“Most of the Senate staff have their lunch in the GSIS canteen. The person who was there in the Senate is a GSIS member and I am having it checked if he also went to our head office to check status of his membership, which they normally do when they are in the vicinity,” Macasaet said.
The GSIS said it has also extended the deadline to May 15 for its annual revalidation of pensioners’ information that covers all old-age and survivorship pensioners born in March.
In a public Facebook post, the GSIS said the project requires old-age pensioners to personally appear before GSIS offices during their birth months as a prerequisite to continue receiving their pensions.
The program was instituted by GSIS as its monitoring mechanism to prevent pension over-payments.
“Old-age and survivorship pensioners born this March need not go to GSIS branches to renew their active status for the time being,” a statement from the GSIS said. “We advise them to postpone visiting our branches.”
Image credits: Roy Domingo