AMENDMENTS ARE underway to make Manila city’s much-criticized annual health permit voluntary for university faculty members, UST labor group leaders said, following talks with Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso.
Manila City Legal Officer Luch Gempis, Jr. reportedly said amendments to the Ordinance No. 8793, which imposes the health permit, have already passed first reading in the City Council and are currently awaiting comments, according to candidates under the SULONG partylist.
“On a more triumphant note, I am pleased to announce that the proposed amendments to the Manila Health Permit rule are now officially in the City Council’s docket for deliberation and approval,” Asst. Prof. Emerito Gonzales, who is seeking reelection as faculty union chief, said in the partylist’s press conference on Saturday, April 25.
“We have been in constant dialogue with the city government, and I can confirm that Manila Mayor Isko Moreno has come through on his promise to the UST faculty. This is a significant step in reducing the bureaucratic burden on our educators,” Gonzales added.
Gonzales and other labor group leaders met with Manila Health Department chief Grace Padilla in March and, recently, with Domagoso to discuss ongoing amendments to the health permit policy.
The ordinance, dubbed as the Sanitation and Disinfection Code enacted in 2021, mandated those employed in food and non-food establishments to secure a health certificate.
In 2024, it drew flak after UST issued a memorandum requiring its faculty members to obtain the permit before they are given teaching loads. Workers also criticized the “unhygienic” local government facilities where they were initially required to undergo medical tests.
That same year, some non-tenured academic staff did not receive appointment letters, or their contracts for teaching assignments, after failing or refusing to comply with the requirement.
During an interview with the media after his filing of candidacy for the Manila mayoralty in October 2024, Domagoso vowed to amend the ordinance to make it responsive to present needs.
“Those from UST… rest assured, I will amend the law. The pandemic is over. The requirements that are no longer needed [will be amended] because at that time we [needed] to create laws, right? But rest assured [that] we will change the system,” he said.
READ: Isko vows amendments to health permit policy as he seeks to reclaim Manila mayoral post
In another interview on March 11, the mayor clarified that only new applicants and workers in specific sectors, such as food businesses, are required to obtain the document from the local government.
“They don’t have to worry, those from UST. Your city government literally addressed that problem in the past…While we take care of the sanitation, cleanliness, and all other things, but, in the same manner, we don’t want to be a burden to our workers,” Domagoso said in the interview sent to The Flame.
READ: Isko: Health permit policy only for new applicants, certain sectors
Amendments
The developments to the ordinance’s status came as a response to the Organisasyon ng Nagkakaisang Empleyado ng UST (ONE-UST), a coalition of UST labor groups, which wrote to Gempis to reiterate its request to make the health permit voluntary, among other changes.
The provisions of the amendments from Gempis were enumerated by SULONG candidate Assoc. Prof. Rene Tadle during the conference.
Under the proposed amended ordinance, the health permit and laboratory tests will only be mandatory for new applicants.
Since faculty members must comply with yearly health check-ups for UST, the University may provide a list of examined employees to the city hall so they no longer have to individually apply for a health certificate.
Current academic staff will only be required to secure the document or undergo laboratory tests for the city’s health department in the event of a public health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The amendments have been forwarded to the City Council’s Committee on Health, which is still under review and awaiting comments from university faculty members, Tadle said, citing Gempis.
The changes align with most of the proposals outlined in ONE-UST’s letter to the city legal officer dated April 17.
“We find common ground with the mayor’s perspective that while Ordinance No. 8793 served a vital purpose during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, its mandatory application to all sectors—particularly education—now presents an undue burden,” the letter read.
The group also suggested limiting the requirement to new hires and employees in high-risk sectors, such as in food and service, while allowing schools and institutions with medical facilities to conduct their own annual examinations.
It pushed for a streamlined system in which institutions submit lists of employees who have completed their annual physical examinations, instead of requiring individual permits.
ONE-UST also asked for a moratorium on the implementation of the ordinance pending the legislative deliberations to “prevent further confusion and financial distress” among faculty and staff.
The proposal was signed by Gonzales, Tadle as Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines president, Ugnayan ng Manggagawa sa UST Hospital president Donell Siazon and Samahang Manggagawa ng UST president Dan Patricio.
Streamlined health permit process
Meanwhile, the city has extended the validity of health certificates through Resolution No. 257.
Under the resolution, the document will now be valid for one year instead of expiring on Dec. 31, replacing the previous shorter validity periods that required more frequent renewals.
Padilla said workers may use the results of their annual physical examinations for their institution as the basis for their health certificates to make the process “non-redundant,” noting that employees had to undergo multiple medical examinations for compliance.
“What we did was to make it non-redundant. Instead of having them undergo the process again and again, we coincided it with their annual physical examination,” Padilla said in an interview on April 14, following the ONE-UST’s courtesy call with the mayor.
According to the health official, the ordinance itself remains under review and is still subject to legal evaluation and consultations before final approval, but the city is targeting to complete the process within the year.
Once approved by the City Council, the amended ordinance will be published and made accessible to the public and institutions.
Padilla said that the policy is intended to be applied consistently across workplaces, with the local health board serving as the first step in standardizing its rollout. F
